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!
~*SPECIAL OMAKE ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL PART 1*~
Greetings humans.
By my introduction, you can probably tell who I am. But since I figure—no—I know, that pretty much all humans are incompetent, I supposed that it cannot be helped but to reveal my identity.
My name is Shokyoku.
Though the name was only given to me a little while ago, I cherish it very much because it's what Aki named me! So from now on, that is what everyone should refer to me as. You humans are lucky that I don't force you to call me your superior, Shokyoku-sama, or even Your Majesty. Though I and everyone else from my race are far more valuable than all of you, I really don't feel like exerting too much of my strength on such lower life forms.
Don't think that I can't see the way you're staring at me. You probably think I'm full-of-it and rude for not giving you a more…deserving hello. Let me just tell you something. I didn't even want any of you coming to this thing. In fact, if I had things my way, the story would just be about me and Aki. But somewhere along the lines, someone thought that it was necessary to have an antagonist, a conflict, a setting, some rising action, and all of that other pointless stuff. Personally I don't see the problem with having just two characters that complement each other so much! *cough* Me and Aki *cough, cough* Ahem. Excuse me~
Okay, now I'm stuck getting that look from people? Look here you, when I say that I "love" Aki, it's like a best friend. My very, very, very, VERY best friend! A friend that I can always have picnics with, play many different games with, go on walks in the park, play on the swings…maybe build a sandcastle
*sparkles in the air, all around her head while she blushes*
*ahem* *becomes serious again*So get that nasty, human mind out of the gutter. I'm a little girl (as far as you all know anyway~). Indecent bunch of monkeys...
Now I'm obligated to tell you all what's going on here. We're about to go into a room where a party is being held. But it's not some every-day, stupid, poorly-hosted, monkey-infested party. No, it's a special, stupid, poorly-hosted, monkey-infested party. It happens to be June 8—it's been a whole year since this story, Love Hurts 5 Ways, began. It's only been a few months since I showed up and had a wonderful "first" encounter with Aki—the thing that should be celebrated—but apparently we're celebrating the story's progression and how she gained her awesome powers and grew as a person. *sigh* As well as her relations with her monkey friends…yadda…yadda…yadda. As if they really matter. As far as I'm concerned, all of those humans are useless background characters. But what does my opinion matter? Apparently you readers with absolutely no taste want a more…"developed" story and "in depth" interactions with "meaningful" characters.
Getting back to the point, and long story short, a party is being thrown and the Creator/Author found it necessary to invite you guys along as well. It would also probably interest you all to know that many of your favorite characters from both past and present will also be attending. Not my favorite choice, but at the risk of being kicked out of the story, I can't completely add in my two cents about it. But really, as if the author would kick me out. Aki needs me for future character development—as well as some juicy secrets that are going to be revealed. *wink*
We're about to enter now.
Of course, I still can't be seen by the other characters—not that I'd ever want to carry on a conversation with those monkeys anyway—but I will probably stand off in the background and relay my opinions whenever I see fit. So don't be surprised whenever my voice pops in out of nowhere. Let's put it this way, you guys shouldn't even be able to see or hear me—only Aki can as far as things are going right now. Consider this a happy day for you, after all, I'm allowing you the honor of hearing me.
Well, I suppose I can't stall this any longer.
Time to step inside.
Be ready for anything…
Standing tall were a set of double doors with fancifully colored ribbons decorating the edges as it stays closed for only a few seconds more. A sign hanging around the handles each say "Private Party". It's difficult to determine exactly what's going on inside as the light coming from the cracks in the bottom revealed shadows going back, forth, and meshing into some ambiguous form, blocking whatever the light source happened to be. Various voices could be heard at once, not speaking in any particular rhythm or pattern. Whatever was happening, an aura of positive energy was practically emitting strong like the rays of the sun—enough to put a smile on your face before even stepping in to see what all of the excitement was about.
Without warning, the doors swung open to a large, well-lit room filled with familiar faces—a blend of various emotions mixed into the overall friendly atmosphere. Overhead, there hung three intricate and bright crystal chandeliers that illuminated the whole space. All around the upper cracks of the walls were lavender and pale-yellow banners. The most prominent one was on the back wall in front of a luscious buffet that spelled out, "Happy 1st Anniversary Love Hurts 5 Ways!", accompanied with helium-filled balloons of complementary colors.
To make the room more comfortable, there were couches and cushions placed in planned-out spots, most notably a spot in the center where four couches were set in a square, facing in to make conversation among guests easier. In another corner of the room was a bar equipped with a plethora of beverages as well as its own bartender ready to serve. All drinks are free! After all, it's a special day!
Scattered around the room were the members of the Ouran High School Host Club and members of the Suzaku 7 who were already introduced in the story.
Shokyoku: Don't expect a description of every single one of them. By this point, you all should know very well what they look like. If you don't…use some imagination you uncreative monkeys. Or better yet, go back and read the story. And this time, actually pay attention. Okay?
Oh, and for those of you who are confused, there is a reason why these particular groups were chosen to be here. Love Hurts 5 Ways was put into the crossover section for the anime Ouran High School Host Club and Fushigi Yuugi. So of course these guys are here. Use your brains for once in your life.
Invited Guest: But Miss Shokyoku! Aki went to five different worlds, why aren't the people from the other worlds here as well?
Shokyoku: You're right. I guess some of you are capable of being somewhat perceptive! Well, let's just say that some of the invitations may or may not have had a wrong address on them. Gee, I wonder who was in charge of mailing those things…Silly me!
Invited Guest: If you don't like everyone here except for Aki, then why didn't you just make it so that no one showed up?
Shokyoku: Why are you making it sound as if I did anything wrong? Besides, if I had done this alleged wrong-doing *wink, wink*, then a mastermind such as myself would have enough brains to know that if so many people didn't show up, a certain protagonist would get suspicious. And this female lead certainly isn't stupid to not be. *threateningly while cracking knuckles* You calling Aki stupid?
Invited guest: *eye twitches* N-No! Of course not!
Shokyoku: That's what I thought! Back to the party~
"This party was such a great idea! I'm so glad I decided to show up." Nuriko sat comfortably on one of the couches, practically hogging the whole thing as he extended his legs to the other end. "What a wonderful time to relax and just have some fun!" Unlike his ancient Chinese character role in the story, this former cross-dresser as well as his other friends from the Universe of the Four Gods came to the celebration in casual, modern clothing that wouldn't normally be seen in their world. Nuriko, for example, wore a long, red sleeved shirt with a black vest over it and dark blue jeans for pants. Even with all of that on, it would still be pretty easy to mistake him as a woman. The way he sat wasn't exactly helping either.
Shokyoku: Oh, and don't expect a description of everyone's clothes. I'm praying that you're all intelligent enough to imagine modern clothing on everyone. This is an omake people. Too much descriptions will make it stale~ And if any of you make a crack about anyone being OOC, I'll personally slap you.
Miaka and sat on the opposite side from her purple-haired Suzaku warrior, her boyfriend, Tamahome, sat right next to her as he enjoyed a plate of hors d'œuvre's . Not too long before, the girl was trying to get a few pieces off of his plate, seeing all of that assorted food. But the man managed to fend off her advances…for now. Miaka responded to Nuriko. "I can't believe that it's been an entire year since the author published Love Hurts 5 Ways! It really didn't even seem like that much time had gone by…"
"Believe me, it would feel a lot longer—"
"If you had been in the story earlier—"
"Like us!" The twins Hikaru and Kaoru popped up from behind Miaka and Tamahome, making them both jump and Nuriko laugh. "You guys didn't even show up until Season 2," said the younger twin Kaoru.
Hikaru came in next. "Not only have we known Aki longer, but we're still being referenced even during your screen time in this present season."
"They even gave us a cameo in Chapters 26, 27, 30—"
"Alright we get it already!" Tasuki shouted from the bar, shaking his fists at the twins. "Ya been around longer—just shut'cher traps already! It's not that big a deal."
Mitsukuni—"Honey"—skipped over to the bandit giggled. "Aww. Tasu-chan is mad!" The small teen tried to get Tasuki to smile by pulling the corners of his lips upwards. "There we go! Don't be jealous now."
Just as the red-headed man was about to chase after Honey, Chichiri came out of virtually nowhere and held him back as he struggled to get free. "Let me at 'em! He's old enough fer me ta pound on! I've watched parts of Ouran, he's not that innocent!"
"Calm down Tasuki—he was just playing with you, ya know?" The monk smiled nervously as he feared that his friend would end up making an unnecessary scene.
Haruhi stood in front of the buffet table as she witnessed what was going on between her fellow Host Club member and the two Suzaku warriors. She sighed. "When you think about it, they've actually had more screen time than us."
"Haruhi…"
"You're on their side?" The twins asked.
Tasuki chuckled as a smug expression wiped onto his face. "Betrayed by one of yer own—if that's not karma, I dunno what is."
The cross-dresser from Ouran Academy shook her head and smiled. "I'm not betraying anyone. It's just common sense. I mean…time wise in the story, yeah, we've been around longer since Aki was with us for a few months. But when you think about chapters…"
"Oh, I see what you're getting at!" Chichiri dropped a fist in his hand. "Though you Hosts technically had her for a while in the time span of the story, we had her for more chapters! She's been in our world for the entire second season so far which has been about 19 chapters and you guys had her for about 6, ya know?"
Before Chichiri could even think about it, Tasuki had rushed over to Honey and began rubbing the smaller teens head roughly with his fist while grinning vengefully. "Who's jealous now?"
"Tasu-chan! That hurts! Stoppit!" Grabbing the bandit's wrist, Honey cried out, "I politely said, STOP!" The Host used only a fraction of his mighty force to flip over the poor unsuspecting Tasuki, and sent him flying clear across the room—his scream could be heard getting fainter as the distance grew. It didn't take long before he hit the wall on the opposite side, leaving a crater in the shape of his twitching body.
Chichiri scratched the side of his cheek sheepishly. "I think that was a bit much, ya know?"
Laughing, Honey's rubbed the back of his head. "Oops, I guess you're right Chi-chan!" Suddenly, the small Host began sniffing the air and his head snapped in the direction of a desert cart that just entered the room. Sparkles came into his eyes as he hugged his stuffed-bunny tighter. "Look Usa-chan! So many cakes and cookies…" Drool dripped from his mouth. Not a second later, he zoomed to tackle the unfortunate guy who was just trying to do his job.
On another part of the room…
"It's really a shame Hotohori. You would have been an excellent addition to our Host Club," Tamaki, the overly-dramatic leader of the Host Club told the Konan emperor. "Your beauty truly outshines that of a regular commoner, my good man." Both of them sat at a small rounded table, sipping tea out of seemingly expensive china cups.
The royal Suzaku warrior flashed him a smile. "You're very wise for such an observation Tamaki. But I must remind you that I am no commoner, I'm an emperor of a very prestigious country. That job alone takes up a good amount of time so it's unfortunate that I must decline your offer." He took a sip. "Even I'll have to admit that you're quite charming as well—I could even go so far as to say that your elegance matches that of a prince!"
Tamaki grinned. "My dear Hoto, don't you mean that my looks match that of…a King?"
Hotohori smiled back, though this time it seemed forced. "No, I meant what I said."
A small vein popped up on the Hosts' cheek has he persisted with the faux smile. "Well then I'll correct you my friend."
Konan's emperor waved him off politely. "No need. As an actual emperor, I'd like to think that my judgments are fairly valid." If one were to read in between his sincere façade, they would see the statement, "I gave you a compliment—Just. Take. It."
Shokyoku: Believe it or not folks, but this whole back and forth fight for kingly dominance thing goes on for another three minutes. So, I'm just going to bend space and time by grabbing this universal remote here and…*takes out the remote and presses the fast-forward button*…speed things up.
…
…
…
O…kay…that should be good. *presses button to resume normal play*
Nuriko closed his eyes and rested his hand in his hand while venturing into his thoughts wistfully. "Oh I remember when my agents first suggested that I become a member of the Host Club. It was such a tempting offer and I was so flattered!" Sighing, he flipped his bangs then folded his fingers and blushed—eyes sparkling in no particular direction. "But I just knew that my big break would manifest itself out there somewhere. And now~" In a flash Nuriko appeared next to Hotohori, wrapping his arms around the emperor's. "I couldn't be happier with my current role."
Hotohori closed his eyes in exasperation. "Nuriko, could you please let go?"
The purple-haired Suzaku warrior immediately backed off and turned around, holding his cheek as a tear formed out of the corner of an eye. "Excuse me Your Highness! I got a little ahead of myself there. After all, you can't rush a happily ever after!" In his free hand was a small bottle labeled "fake tears". "So I shall patiently wait!"
Hikaru and Kaoru peeked from behind a couch as they observed the events that just perspired—especially the bit with Nuriko's faux sobs. "You gotta admit, he's pretty good," Hikaru noted.
"Yeah," Kaoru added on, "but that's kind of our thing—I thought we were the only ones clever enough to use tears-in-a-bottle…"
Stroking his chin, the older twin became rather skeptical. "Looks like our brand too. There's no way that's a coincidence…" Those two were always known for putting on rather convincing performances for their clients. But only those in the Host Club knew that the vast majority of the time, they were using fake tears.
Pushing up his classes, the vice-president of the Host Club stood behind the spying twins. "I sold it to him of course. For a while, Nuriko here has been a client of mine—ordering packs of those fake tears. It earned the Host Club a little pocket change."
"Kyouya-senpai! You're selling our secrets to another group!"
"It's not exactly authentic if everyone's doing it!"
Haruhi popped in, her face unfazed. "You're worried about authenticity? You guys use fake tears, leading on the ladies to think that your twin-cest routines are genuine. I know it's for the sake of making our clients happy, but come on…" Always had to leave it to Haruhi to bluntly point out the obvious.
It didn't take long before the twins jumped out of their spot and embraced the female Host from both sides—making a Haruhi sandwich. "You hurt us deep Haruhi~"
"But not enough to turn us away!"
She grimaced. "You guys are too much…"
Figuring that he was still a part of the conversation, Kyouya addressed the situation at hand. "I didn't mean it to offend. It's just business…nothing more."
Meanwhile, at the desert cart, all Hell had broken loose between the two people who loved cakes, pastries, and cookies the most: The ever ravenous Miaka Yuki, and the living sweet-tooth, Mitsukuni Haninozuka. Each party was on opposite sides of the room, struggling as they were being held back from clawing each other's eyes out.
"I saw that last piece before you even thought about it, so it belongs to me!" Miaka shouted as Tamahome held her arms tightly to avoid her escape.
Honey shook his head vigorously while his tall, better-built cousin, Takashi Morinozuka, struggled somewhat to restrain him from unleashing his fists of fury. "Nu-uh! I smelled that banana-crème cheesecake before it even came into the room—my name was practically on it! So stop being a meanie and listen to your elder!"
Shokyoku: For all of folks out there who are baffled by that statement…
Shame on you.
If you guys knew anything about anything, you'd know that despite the way he acts and his size, Haninozuka is actually 17 and Yuki is 15. But if you ask me, they both act like they're 3. Honestly, why does Aki hang out with these people? I just don't get it.
At first, the whole thing was friendly. She'd take several cookies and cupcakes, he'd enjoy a couple dozen scones and tarts…but once it came down to the last piece of cheesecake, the two desert lovers ended up putting their forks in at the exact same time, starting the ridiculous war that was presently resuming.
Before too long, Nuriko sighed and got up from his comfortable spot on the couch, walking in between the two parties as he clapped a few times. "Okay people, this whole thing has been fun and all, but aren't we supposed to be celebrating the anniversary of Love Hurts 5 Ways?" He put a hand on his hips. "It feels a lot more like we're doing a whole bunch of random hijinks for no real reason."
"Yeah, what's up with that anyway?" After a good several minutes, Tasuki finally recovered from his encounter with Honey. Brushing it off as if it were nothing, he crossed his arms, contributing more to the conversation. "I thought we were here ta do somethin' important? I mean, don't get me wrong, the sake here is pretty damn good! But I wanna little more to this party, if ya know what I'm sayin'."
Smiling mischievously, Tamahome slid over to Tasuki and nudged him with his elbow. "Finally back on your feet, huh Tasuki? Or maybe you just stayed down from the embarrassment of being beat up by a little kid?"
Grabbing Tama's collar, Tasuki erupted, "He is not a little kid. That short, damn punk is a demon in sheep's clothing. He pulls ya in by lookin' all nice and all that crap—but he's not getting me with that nice-guy act. I'm too smart for that!"
Even with the looming threat, Tamahome only grinned in response to Tasuki's mixture of humiliation and anger. "Smart enough not to fall for it, but dumb enough to push it too far."
The bandit's fists clenched around the fabric of Tamahome's shirt. "I ain't afraid to take ya down right here, right now Tama!" Feeling that his work is never done, Nuriko came into the picture and shamelessly punched Tasuki hard in the back of his head. Letting go to tend to his soreness, Tasuki grabbed his head and barked at his fellow warrior. "What the hell?"
"You're acting like an idiot—can't you just apologize for everything and be done with it? 'Cause you're clearly not going to win here." Taking this deeply into offense, the red-headed bandit was just about to give a retort. But unfortunately for him, Nuriko decided to steer the conversation back to the track it rightfully belonged. "Now to officially enhance our experience here…hmm…" In the background, you could hear Tasuki flailing around trying to bring the attention back to him and his complaints.
But he was ignored.
Part of the anniversary party was meant to reflect on the things that had gone on in the story for the past year. But so far, the whole thing has just been interesting exchanges between the Host Club and the Suzaku 7. However, something had been missing…Something important…
Shokyoku: What a bunch of morons!
Almost as if she had the ability to catch onto Shokyoku's message (which wouldn't actually be possible since she can't see or even here Shokyoku), Haruhi's face suddenly developed a very prominent "Aha!" expression. "Oh wow. How didn't we see this before?" Everyone's head immediately snapped towards her in curiosity. "Aki-senpai isn't even here!"
…..O_O….
Shokyoku: Seriously, they are morons…I can't believe that humans have survived this long, I really can't.
"WHAT?" The whole room was in an uproar with the announcement of the revelation. If they had nothing else in common before, now they all shared the exact same "DUH" expression as well as a similar sense of stupidity.
Shokyoku: I knew Aki wasn't around—I was just wondering how long it would take until the light bulbs finally clicked on. If it weren't for the author telling me directly to show up to this thing to keep you all informed, I'd be with Aki right now instead of having to listen to these monkeys. If she doesn't show up, that's fine. I'd rather not have her exposed to these lame individuals.
The vast majority of the room hung their heads down in shame as a dark cloud loomed over all of them. Miaka was the first to speak on her own. "You know…I feel kinda bad for not realizing this sooner…Sorry Aki-nee-chan…" An uneasy chuckle escaped pass her lips.
"What kind of friends are we to have forgotten such a dear and valuable friend?" Tamaki exclaimed, managing somehow to get a single spotlight onto him while the rest of the room went dark. "Here we were, celebrating such a glorious day and we didn't even notice the injustice that was unfolding before our very eyes." Dropping down to one knee, the king of the Host Club folded his hands and looked up towards the light as golden sparkles gently rained down onto him. All of the guests could really do nothing more than stare in a mixture of disgust, fascination, and an all around sense of "oh brother". "Dearest Akimoto—my sister, wherever you are, I ask that you find it in your caring heart to forgive us—"
"Alright so what're we going to do?" Nuriko interrupted, not caring if he cut-off Tamaki's heart-filled apology. "This party would sort of be for nothing without the main character—we're just going to have to forget about the fact that we left her behind and find a solution."
Unsurprisingly, Tamaki gasped in shock from his delivery being cut short. Tears streaming down and eyes as wide as a begging puppy, he crawled up to the purple-haired Suzaku Warrior. "That was so incredibly mean! How could you block out such an important proclamation? Are you that cold?"
Nuriko sighed. "Honestly if we let you go on like that, we'd be here all day and never get anything done…no offense."
"That's kind of true…sorry to say," Miaka admitted.
"Yeah, just be tough for once and man-up already!" Speaking out from the rest of the crowd, Tasuki joined in with the unfair picking on Tamaki. "A stupid speech ain't gonna get anything done—we need action."
Hotohori shook his head. "Such a pity that you can't get your subjects to listen to you."
Mouth gaping open, Tamaki turned to Haruhi and placed his hands on her shoulders, looking down at her, straight in the eyes—a serious look plastered onto his flawless features. "My precious daughter Haruhi, tell me that you loved my meaningful speech…"
She blinked a few times as she searched her mind for an answer. "Sorry Senpai, I have to agree with them."
Freezing in a statue state from both hurt and shock, the end result led to him crouching over with his knees tucked in off in the farthest, darkest corner of the room, back facing everyone as he sat pathetically in self-pity. He mumbled to himself, "Even Haruhi…"
"Aww! Tama-chan is off in his emo corner again!" Honey exclaimed in a way-too-perky manner. Walking up to his leader with a long stick in his hand, the small Host began curiously poking at Tamaki as if he were a dead animal. "This one might last a while folks!" It took a few seconds for everyone to get their mind off of everything that just perspired, but eventually, things got back on track for the sake of the anniversary.
Clearing his throat, Kyouya steered everyone away from Tamaki. "Shouldn't we be working on how to get Akimoto here? After all, without her, this whole chapter would just be a meaningless crossover."
Miaka smiled. "Now, I wouldn't say that it's meaningless, but it would be much more fun to have Onee-chan here."
"But why isn't she here?" Tamahome asked. "There's no way she wouldn't know about this." Having well-enough knowledge about the girl, he ended up answering his own question. "She's probably hiding out waiting for everything to just blow over. Man I wish that she'd just let loose every once in a while."
"Eh, give 'er a few drinks and she'll lighten up just fine!" Tasuki proudly noted.
Turning around and lowering their heads a bit, Nuriko and the twins whispered to each other to avoid the bandit from hearing what they had to say.
"He does know that that wouldn't work, right? Aki can't get drunk," Hikaru pointed out.
"Isn't that sort of why he lost that whole drinking contest that had a while ago?" His younger twin, Kaoru, asked.
Sighing, Nuriko addressed the issue. "Now, now, it's not completely his fault for being an idiot. He's not supposed to find that out until later in the story. When Aki tells him," he chuckled, "I'm sure it will be hilarious."
"Hey, wasn't Chichiri here a while ago?" Haruhi's observation once again led everyone to wonder what the heck was going on. Snapping their heads from left to right to all around, a feeling of bewilderment stroke the guests. First they found out that the main person wasn't even there to celebrate a milestone in the story and now someone else went missing! What a day that was turning out to be.
Suddenly, a bright light appeared in the center of the room—the shapes of two beings emerging from the center.
Shokyoku: Okay, now it's time to switch out of this crappy 3rd person POV and give Aki back her spotlight!
I didn't expect them to find me—I didn't want them to find me. My life was already so eventful, was it too much to ask for a day off from everything, from everyone? No. At least it shouldn't have been.
There I was, in my apartment, innocently watching TV, when I felt an odd, yet familiar presence fill the contents of my room. Before I even had a chance to react—really, I was literally stuck in the same state, in the middle of a sentence, when he found me.
"Take down that ugly vampire Buffy!"
Boy was I really regretting the one time I actually chose to speak to the television.
It wasn't until I saw everyone's amused expressions that I realized that they heard loud and clear my enthusiastic cheer. My whole body was frozen with embarrassment. A very evident warmth traveled across my nose and spread all over my face, probably making me seem dangerously close to a ripe tomato.
Then, the worst part happened.
The laughing.
In my mind, I made a mental note…to my…fictional Death Note: 3:15pm, Chichiri gets hit by a bus.
Without finding the proper way to respond, all I did was crouch down low and hide behind my bangs, allowing them to fulfill the function I grew them to do. How embarrassing! All I wanted to do was just die at that moment. But of course, we all know that the universe just isn't that fair.
The cackling that filtered through the clearest was that of my stupid ex-boyfriend and his stupid twin brother. Nice to know that I was providing them with such entertainment.
Rolling on the ground in such a way that their standing bodies couldn't withstand the weight of their laughter, I resisted every urge to make the ceiling cave in on them.
"Akimoto Tsubaki is a Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan girl!"
"Who would've thought?"
3:20pm, Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin get thrown out of a plane...and into a volcano.
Clenching my fists, I steadily crept closer to them with an intent to kill—the very evident blush still painted on my face. Feeling a sudden tug on my collar, I looked back to discover Tamahome, who was preventing me from committing a homicide.
"C'mon Aki, you have to admit, it's pretty funny. We just didn't expect that from you is all." Of course, he said this with an outrageously wide smile, telling me that he had been one of the ones who was laughing that the discovery. Once again, my response was to just crouch back down onto my knees and trace out no specific shape on the ground with my finger, hoping my silence would make it so like I disappeared. Out of all the times for someone—anyone, to find out, it had to be on a day when everyone I know are brought together into a single room. F$#k my life.
The worst part was that there was no way to take any of it back. *in my head, a stream of tears comically running down my eyes*
Putting a finger under his lip while pondering, Nuriko gasped as an epiphany hit him. "You know, now that I think about it, this actually explains a lot! Aki's bursts of confidence do resemble that of Buffy's, don't they?"
My eyes widened as my blush intensified. I tried to protest, "That is so not why—"
"Alright! It's clip time people!" Mitsukuni announced out of the blue.
"What? 'Clip time'? What the hell does that mean?" I asked, sort of afraid of what the answer would be.
Chichiri looked puzzled. "Didn't anyone tell you?" My eyebrow twitched from the stupidity of his question. No, I'm only asking 'cause I know, I thought sarcastically. Almost as if he were speaking more to an audience than me, the monk held up a finger in explanation. "Part of this special is pact-full of clips, ya know? Little excerpts of the chapters that were uploaded in the past year will be shown for reminiscing purposes, ya know?"
I grimaced. "I'm not sure that I like that very much."
"Too bad!" Snapping out a small fan, Nuriko laughed snobbishly a few times while hiding the lower half of his face with said item. "Everything's already been set up and ready to go at our signals! Almost anything can trigger them really. Quite the technology I must say, being able to show the right clips right when we need them."
Kyouya helped with the explanation. "It's a state of the art computer program—latest model—still a prototype. It has the capabilities to read memory of a human brain and project those images onto a screen without any type of film or data."
"Couldn't get much more convenient than that!" Nuriko added.
Giving him a skeptical look, I asked. "And you were in possession of such a device, because…?"
Of course, Mr. Smartypants didn't hesitate with an answer. "The Ootori police force worked with a company of scientist during the development of this invention. If successful, it would prove quite useful with recovering the memory of victims and solving difficult cases. I thought that you could at least figure that much out Akimoto." What the hell is that supposed to mean?
"I don't like that much either." Hearing Tasuki say that made me almost want to hug him for seeing things my way—almost. Sure, another person's vote wouldn't win me my way, but it was nice to know someone else was on my side here. But he just had to be himself, buy stepping over the line. "I mean, come on! It's not like she really did anything all that important—so she flashed around a few spells and went through unnecessary melodrama. No one wants to see any of that crap again." Clenching my fists, a vein bulged from my head. "I say we look to the future and—" Without thinking, I threw out the Hammer of Justice and swung, hard, allowing Tasuki to be caught at close range as it painfully sent him flying onto the wall on the other side of the room—right next to a crater that looked quite similar to his shape. Guess I wasn't the first one to teach him a lesson that day~
Shokyoku: *pfttt* HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA ! Wait, I hope they caught that on tape. Too funny! That flame-headed monkey got what was coming to him!
But anyway, like everyone said, yes, this is more or less a clip show. `And here are the times when Aki was in battle and resembled Buffy the Vampire Slayer with her banter and amazingness.
Clip-Set #1—"Them's Fighting Words!"
Chapter 5: The Difficult Truth
Aki was fighting Naraku by herself, with a wand she didn't know how to completely use. Yet, when things were getting dangerous, she finally managed to conjure up the flames that she wanted.
I managed to form a whip of fire at the tip of the wand, stretching at about ten feet.
"What's wrong Nay-Nay? Upset that I barbequed your chances at winning this fight?" Okay, I may not be fighting to kill this guy—at this point, I'm fighting just to get out of this fight. I'll take this as a win any day!
"Why you…!" I happened to notice that the parts of him that were destroyed never came back. I would have been a fool to not take this opportunity. The moment I cracked my whip, a wave of fire triumphed over Naraku, charring his detached head.
Chapter 9: Us Against the World
After fighting off Shadow Maidens for the first time, Kaibrara High School was left in chaos and confusion. Taking advantage of the situation, some bullies intercepted Aki's escape and attempted to harass her. Not feeling like letting the jerks off, Aki kneed one of them harshly in the crotch.
"Dude, you just got owned by a girl!"
"No I didn't! She just surprised me," He erupted. This made more people to be tempted to stop and look. At this point, I really didn't care anymore. In fact, I wanted them to hear what I was going to say.
My voice got low and lacked any and all softness to it. "Give it up. I didn't surprise you. I kicked your sorry, jerky ass and you know it. If I were you, I would just cut the crap now and stay there before I make you eat the disgusting hand you touched me with. "
…
"Then you get the nerve to mess with me! Big mistake!"
Chapter 11: Take a Crazy Chance
The fan-girls of Ouran didn't want to accept Aki as a Host. But even with the hurtful things they said about her (not exactly their fault, Shokyoku was at work here), she knew the girls were in trouble because of a vision. Rushing in to save the day, Aki came face to face with a group of thugs who had a vendetta against the Host Club.
"Seoshi!"A tough dome of energy surrounded the girls, repelling the guy's advances. For my safety, I tried my best to make the barrier as invisible as I could.
"What the hell was that?" The guy roared.
Kicking open the doors open, everyone in the room gasped. Feeling pretty confident, I decided to go for the classic witty banter. "You boys haven't been playing very nice. It's time I gave you a time out." Yeah, it was cheesy. Do I care? Not really. The situation kind of called for it.
"Who's the wench?"
"Oh my gosh, why is it that whenever I go to a new place, someone calls me that? Can't you bad dudes ever come up with a better noun? Or is your vocabulary that limited?"
Chapter 17: What Lies Beneath Part 2
Trying to escape the thousands of Shadow Maidens chasing her, the wandless and powerless Aki ran from her date with Dark to lead the enemies away. Running up into a tall tower, she found herself backed into a corner. That was when Krad showed up, whose glowing white purity was enough to fool anyone into thinking that he was a good guy. Aki saw through his façade.
Slowly extending my hand, Krad's smile began to widen. That was when I pulled back—completely faking him out. I smiled deviously—a skill I learned from the Hitachiin twins. "You're gonna have to do way better than that in order to fool me. Maybe those things you said were the case, but even so, I'd never buy that crap about you being my guardian angel. I'm pretty damn sure that an angel is not supposed to make a person feel like said angel should be listed on the list for biggest creeps." His smile faltered. "Your clothes may be white on the outside, but I have a feeling that your fleece isn't as white as snow." Man! That felt good!
Chapter 18: Room for Two—Wait, What?
Upon meeting back up with Miaka Yuki after not seeing her for 5 years, Aki was reminded of the time the two meet. It was when Aki was 8 years old and Miaka was 6. A group of boys were picking on little Miaka and Aki came to the rescue.
"I'm glad that you guys know math, but what does that have to do with anything?" I asked without showing fear.There wasn't any way I could respect people who ganged up on someone like that. Regardless, it didn't matter how many of them there were. This whole thing was going to end up exactly how it always did.
…
Knowing that I had already won, I told them in monotone, "If you want the pain to go away, then you'll give the girl back her bear and go home." And with that, the boys immediately got up, threw the bear to the ground, and ran off.
Chapter 23: Unexplainable Spark
Shokyoku: This one is actually one of my favorites X3
Yet another case of damsel in distress. Aki had to come to the rescue once again when some waitresses were being harassed.
"Look you big jerk, the lady said to leave her alone," I said out loud. Pausing what they were doing, all of them looked over at me. "Don't you think it's a bit sad that you have to come to a place where the girls have to stay? Obviously your experience with women leaves a lot to be desired." Closing my eyes, I sighed. "Well, I suppose that's to be expected with an ugly bunch like yourselves."
Feeling that I stroke a nerve with that last comment, I opened up one of my eyes to discover that the band of punks was coming to my table.And so it begins.
"You dare call us ugly, wench?"Yup, and there's that uncreative name they all like to call me. "We can really mess you up for that!"There's the threat they think they can initiate.They all circled my table.There's that whole theory about how they surround me and think that will actually help them. Jeez, it's like these guys are a broken record—or a re-run of a bad sitcom.
Making sure that my face stayed stoic, I told them, "Okay, this is gonna go one of two ways. Either you do the moronic, unoriginal thing and attack me—or make me mad—ultimately ending up in your asses being thrown out the door, or you can be smart and leave."
"What? How dare you speak to us like that!" Cooling his anger a bit, the guy added, "Do you really believe that a girl like you could actually take us? You probably wouldn't even be able to take one us down."
"Yeah, what makes you think that you will get through this without punishment?" One of them reached out to grab a few strands of my hair—which I allowed him to do only to fuel my anger and rationale for beating him to a pulp even more. "But perhaps if you apologized to us in some way, we may turn our heads from this whole ugly scene."
I smirked. "What ugly scene? You mean your face?"
Chapter 23: Unexplainable Spark
The first time Aki met Tasuki, she though he was a chauvinistic jerk and he thought she was a troublesome and irritating woman whom he shouldn't have given the time of day to. Feeling insulted, Aki challenged him to a fight. At first, he didn't accept, but come on, we all know that didn't stop things from moving forward!
Taking in a deep breath, I shouted, "You think you're a real man? Ha! Real men wouldn't back down from a fight! Unless…you're scared to face off with a woman!" He stopped. "You can't just expect me to let you walk away from this after talking to me like that, do you?"
…
"A piece of advice: when going up against me, I suggest that you get rid of that smug attitude—that's my thing!" When he turned to face me with an obviously irritated demeanor, I didn't waste any time in focusing my energy on my first attack.
Chapter 33: Assurance
While Aki was infiltrating Kutou, two thugs thought that they could jump her. They were in for a surprise when she whipped out her kunai and showed them a trick they didn't expect.
Gripping onto the handle with full force fueled with anger, I told them with a chilling voice, "I'll tell you bastards what I will do—I am going to throw this weapon into the air. And before it touches the ground, you two will no longer be able to move your bodies or even flap those disgusting holes you call mouths. Crying out for help won't even be an option."
With cruel laughs they asked, "Are you threatening us woman?"
I shook my head. "Nope. That's a promise."
Shokyoku: You guys get the point~
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!