I'm very sorry for this long absence, but to make it up to you I have constructed this long chapter just for you. Swimming has taken it's toll on me and my classes have started to blur. I hope you enjoy. I do not own OHSHC.

Hikaru's POV

"Did it hurt," I asked, feeling like a complete idiot for what I was about to say.

"Did what hurt?" she asked, writing down an answer on her math homework. She always got a little crease in between her eyebrows whenever she was dealing with math, a fire in her eyes, and pure joy whenever she got the right answer, which was always.

"When you fell from heaven," I said.

She dropped her pencil in shock, very slowly she raised her eyes from the papers to give me a look. There was a slight bit of annoyance along with a dash of amusement and embarrassment. "Seriously?" she said. "Where on earth did you hear that pickup line? I feel embarrassed for you, Hikaru." She covered her face with her hands. "Please tell me you didn't get that from Tamaki-senpai 'cause that's really just sad." She spread her fingers so she could look me in the eye, a light scolding in her eyes.

"Too much?" I asked, scooting my chair closer to her.

"That's a bit of an understatement. If my father was still alive to hear you say that to me, I'm pretty sure he would have arrested you. But I'll admit that the wings might have made you hallucinate." She shook her upper body to make the wings attached to her back flutter. The feathers closest to her back were pure golden, shifting to lighter colors until the ones near her feet were pure white.

"I don't think so, because I can clearly see the angel without the wings." I reached out a hand to move her bangs out of her eyes, her blush was adorable. "Since all of us are going to the beach after school, basically for host work. But I was wondering... once we get there would you like to play volleyball."

"Has anyone ever told you that you have a weird way of flirting?"

"No, but is it working?" I got a smile then, her teeth biting down on her lip to keep it from showing too much.

"I'll let you know when I think it's working, but I'll take you up on your offer to beat you in a game of volleyball later. Now I think it best to get ready before the guests come in." It was already well past February, passing Haruhi's birthday and Honey-senpai's honorary birthday. It was two days before Valentine's Day. We were to embark for Nekozawa-senpai's beach estate after school today.

After explaining her nerves to Kyoya-senpai, he said that she would be given leave if she wanted to but after hearing what happened between Haruhi and Tamaki last time we went to the beach, she said that there was no way that she was staying behind. Kyoya-senpai said that she was allowed to take a sedative before the 40 hour plane ride there. Funny how everything turned out alright in the end, but I knew that Kyoya-senpai allowed her to be sleeping in order for her to come at all.

I think he worries how she'll react when the plane takes off, just like when she panicked on New Year's in the car.

Today's cosplay had us all dressed up as unearthly beings, angels, with each of us having different colored wings, Tamaki the only one with pure white wings.

Aside from the nerves of being on a plane, I could tell she was excited about being able to go to a beach. Ever since leaving San Diego, her skin had lost a lot of its luster, getting paler and paler over the last few months, her tan almost nonexistent.

The day would go on as usual and once we've spent the time to entertain today's guests we would take our pre-packed bags and jump onto a plane. I was the one carrying her unconscious body on board and making sure she was properly buckled up and safe.

Sunny's POV

The sun was warm on my skin, the cold ocean water splashing my ankles, my necklace and the rings shimmering. I inhaled repeatedly, savoring the salty Japanese ocean air. It was Valentine's Day, meaning that those who wanted to spend time with the hosts on this trip had to paid extra. I was a ways away from them, in a pale blue bikini. I argued with Kyoya-senpai on this, but he pointed out that the scars were hardly noticeable and that my hair would hide my back.

I heard him coming up behind me, his pen making loud scribbles. "Are you about done," he asked. "Because your clients are waiting to watch you and Haruhi play against the twins." Leave it to him to ruin a perfectly good moment.

"Just a few more minutes," I begged, still looking out onto the water.

"Tick, tock, Miss Sunlight," he said again. I sighed in exasperation.

"Can't you just look out into the ocean and not think for a moment? Can't you enjoy just a simple minute of peace?"

"I don't think you know me very well, Miss Sunlight. Even on a trip like this, we are still on a schedule."

"You're impossible, Senpai," I sighed. "Don't you at all feel peaceful?"

"The only thing that could possibly make me feel at peace would be you going over and playing volleyball." We glared at each other for a few seconds, neither one of us backing down.

"Sit down with me, let's have a nice chat," I said, scooting away from the water and closer to the dry sand. It took a while for him to bend his pride and join me on the warm sand, but once he did, I leaned over and snatched up his binder and pen, shaking my head when he protested. "Did everyone else know that Hikaru liked me all this time?" I asked after a minute of silence.

"Yes," he answered without any hesitation whatsoever, making me feel like such an idiot. I fell backwards in the sand with a frustrated groan, covering my eyes with my arm. "I was really quite surprised that it took you that long to realize, you blondes are quite dense sometimes."

"Yeah, I know," I muttered. "I'm sorry about that. I just never thought that something like that would happen to me."

"What do you mean?"

"You've heard the fairy tales before, right? Once upon a time, there lived a poor girl who enchanted a handsome prince, got married and lived happily ever after." I lifted my arm and saw him looking down at me, giving me an attentive look, taking in all of my words and storing them away. The look in his eyes made me relaxed further into the sand. "I never confused my life with a fairy tale when I was little, that much I remember, but I had hoped that my life would be much simpler than it turned out to be."

"Life is not going to turn out exactly as you plan it to be, Sunlight," he said, looking back to the water.

"What do you see," I asked. "When you look out onto the water, I mean," adding when he gave me a confused look.

"I see salt water and sand particles," he answered plainly.

I laughed at his lack of imagination, giving him a teasing smile. "Well I see, the birthplace of many good memories. From the sand castles I built when I was nine, to drawing in the sand, having late-night s'mores, and learning how to surf. Life is about taking all the wonderful little things and never letting go, while making great memories as you go." We were quiet for a while, taking great comfort in each others silence. I sighed as I sat up and stretched my arms over my head. "You said that you've looked through my medical records, correct?'

"Yes, that's true." He still looked down at me with those dark gray eyes, they were surprisingly soulful. I sighed, fully expecting the answer that was to come.

"Then I guess that means that you've researched me all the way to my birth. That also means that you know about... her." Even after all these years I still couldn't bear to say her name.

"Yes, I know all about your twin sister, Natsumi," he said, not at all holding back. "I know that she died a short while after your first birthday." I nodded, covering my eyes to hide the beginnings of tears. "But you do realize that her death was not your fault, right?"

"Maybe, maybe not. It just adds up to the fact that I'm bad luck. And if you've looked at my family tree on my maternal grandmother's side, you'll know that it's a family trait. It goes all the way back to my ten-times-great grandmother. According to family legend, she was at the wrong place at the wrong time and was jinxed. Her husband was killed, but she managed to escape, unharmed. She gave birth to a healthy baby girl a few months later, one that caused trouble, and that child had a child and so forth. The family "curse" preys on a lone girl from the family thanks to Theresa Santiago."

"But wasn't there a rumored cure for this, the "curse" as you call it, was stopped somehow," he said.

"Yes, but there could be other factors involved such as: migrating to another country, climbing up top a great mountain, or bathing in the salt sea. None of those seemed to have worked for me though, but the most believed theory was getting engaged. My grandmother said that around the time she met my grandfather, there wasn't much bad luck, then it was completely gone by the time they were married."

"Do you believe it," he asked.

I scoffed, shaking my head. "Of course not. Something as simple as meeting her husband could not have been the cause of her no longer losing her keys, never getting sick, or never having a bad hair day! It cannot simply be that easy!" He let me finish my rant, staying quiet and keeping his eyes on me. I sat up, realizing that I had probably spent too long on the topic. "Well this was nice," I said, "I guess it's about time that I get back to work. I believe that these are yours." I passed him back his pen and binder. I got up and shook the sand off my legs. "It was nice talking to you, Senpai."

"Why is it that you call me senpai?" he asked before I could run off. "We're in the same grade."

I smiled at his question. "You deserve my respect, Kyoya," I answered. "No, you deserve much more than that. I will continue to be thankful and in your debt, long after I've paid you back. It's different with you than it is with the others. Tamaki-senpai annoyed me with his stupid nickname and Mori-senpai and Honey-senpai are in a higher grade than us. Senpai isn't strong enough of a word for you and until they come up with one suitable enough for what I feel, that is what I will continue to call you."

Sand was in places sand should never be. After Haruhi and I beat the twins three times, things got dirty. Our loyal clients would throw soaking sand at the competition's cheerleaders, but only after theirs said that the twins were just letting us win. It abruptly ended the match and we all joined in the fight, shoving sand in each others faces and grinding it down in people's hair. There was a moment when Hikaru was shoved into me during the fight. He was unbalanced and once again was elbowed into me, sending the both of us crashing down.

Our lips touched for a single second, but thankfully we both stood back up fast enough that none of the guests noticed. We both turned to see an innocent looking Kaoru, apologizing half-heartedly for knocking into us. Hikaru and I shared a look, at the same time bending over to grab a handful to sand from the ocean and flung it at him.

It was a few hours before the sun would set, Kaoru caught me on my way over to my room to shower off and get ready for dinner. He said that I could use the big tub that was in his and Hikaru's room. I agreed because I was much too lazy to refuse a good long soak and to have to go through the trouble of cleaning my own bathroom.

After his departure I stripped and jumped in under the water. There were foamy bubbles that smelled like lavender. I leaned my head back and scrubbed my scalp clean of the sand. I plugged my nose and sank into the bubbles. I felt something strange like a swish of movement and felt something under the water. Startled, I bolted upright, making sure that I was covered by bubbles. I coughed out water that got in when I gasped, looking around to see what had occurred. I didn't see anything out of order but then I saw a brown head.

"Haruhi!" I snapped. "You scared the hel-heck out of me!" I put a hand to my racing head, fearing a heart attack at the moment.

She looked apologetic at having frightened me but her eyes showed a slight amusement. "Sorry, Sunny," she said. "I didn't think that I would scare you. Kaoru had said that you were in here and said that I was more than welcome to bathe as well."

"It's alright, but a bit of warning would have been nice, for a second I thought that maybe you were someone else."

"Like, maybe Hikaru?" she asked. There was a definite smile on her face then, teasing me.

"Maybe, after all there a quite a few hormonal teenage boys here, one of them might have thought it funny to jump in with me."

"How do you feel for him, then?" she asked.

"To be honest, he scares me," I answered. At her startled look I thought to explain myself further. "I worry about him, I don't want him to get hurt and I think that I'm liable to get him hurt beyond repair. I've already hurt enough people as it is, there's no reason for him to be one of them. It's one thing to hurt someone that you don't know, but it's a completely different thing to hurt someone that you care about. I don't want to hurt any of you and Hikaru doesn't deserve to get hurt just because he has a crush on me." I made sure to scrub off every trace of sand and got out, grabbing a robe and covering myself. "I'm going to my room to get ready for dinner," I said.

"I'll see you at dinner, then," she said, before plunging under the water.

He was quiet. So quiet in fact that I had originally mistaken him for a shadow. I stopped on the bottom stair, slowly turning around to see who it was. But when I made 180 degrees, the air in front of me was empty. I shrugged, yawning, turning back around.

There he was, in his black cloak, scaring the crap out of me. Because I was yawning, I was unable to yelp or scream out, I was so startled that I backed up a step, my heel knocking in the bottom step. The good news is my head landed on the top of the stair, but my butt was not so lucky.

Once I saw that it was only Nekozawa-senpai, not a ghost, I relaxed on the stairs. "For someone so tall, you're very quiet," I gasped. "A little warning next time would be nice." I put a hand out, but he stared awkwardly at it, not knowing what to do. "Do you like the view so much that you're not going to help me?"

"Sorry," he said, grabbing my hand. "I didn't think you'd want me to touch you." I raised a blonde eyebrow at me. "Most people are too terrified by me to want me around them, let alone help them up."

"Well, for future reference, I am not one of those people. Just be sure not to stalk after people while they're walking down the stairs. That's such a cliché in movies, do it when they walk into the kitchen or out the front door, then you can jump out at them." I walked past him, patting him on the shoulder as I went in the direction of the kitchen. Until I thought of what I just said to him and stopped, reluctant to find out whether he'll jump me or not. "What was it that you needed?"

"Ootori wanted me to give this to you, you need to memorize it in the next fifteen minutes and meet him at the bonfire on the beach," he instructed, pulling a manila folder from his cloak and handed it to me. I opened it and saw song lyrics. I wondered how he could have come up with the idea to have me sing at a last-minute campfire, but then my words this afternoon, the mentioning of s'mores. I had set myself up with this.

I was such an idiot for giving him this idea.

The song wasn't that hard to memorize, the words were my favorite. They were sweet and perfectly fit for today's occasion.

There was a purple sticky note on the music, instructions on what to wear to the campfire. A golden bikini, denim short shorts, and a powder-blue short-sleeved jacket. There were even instructions on how to zip up the jacket. I was to zip it up right under my breasts, saying that I was to show a bit of cleavage, but not too much, showing off the suit underneath.

I ran down the stairs, the lyrics running through my head and my feet hitting the stairs. It wasn't long until I felt the sand until my feet and saw the other hosts there waiting for me so we could greet the guests. I felt Hikaru's eyes on me, but I pretended that I was squinting against the sunset. I still felt a bit awkward around him since this afternoon's forced kiss, contribution of Kaoru. I was still was tiny bit mad at him for pushing his brother into me.

Honey-senpai tugged at my hand and led me around to the log that he and Mori-senpai were sharing, having me sit down in between the two. I felt relieved that he did so before Hikaru had the chance to open his mouth to ask.

I then looked over at the sunset and squinted for real this time. My lashes and my hand helped to keep the shine at bay. Sunsets were nice and all, the pretty oranges and reds with a touch of still-blue, but it had nothing on sunrises. The beautiful purples and the mixtures of orange-red. The sun was a good friend to me, smiling at me in the mornings and winking at me at night.

The constant scribbling of a pen suddenly stopped. I looked over at Kyoya-senpai to see the pen held loosely in his left hand, looking off at the sunset. I think this might be the first time I've seen him distracted while writing something down. His glasses were glared over, as usual, not letting me see his eyes. I think I saw it, but it was too fast to be sure of, the corner of his lip twitched. I looked for another sign to indicate relaxation. His shoulders and chest moved every so often, letting me know that his breathing was in fact slower than usual. Even if he didn't allow a smile to show on his face, I knew for sure that there was one in his eyes. I hoped that he felt at the very least peaceful, but I think he was just a little happy.

I heard a squeal of happiness and excitement, pulling me away from my thoughts. I turned and saw our clients running down the beach towards us. I had thought for sure that every girl would show up but I think that Kyoya-senpai made the seating limited and charge more. I counted ten girls, two for each single host and two per each pairing host, leaving Kyoya-senpai alone.

We separated off into our respectable groups and talked for about half an hour uninterrupted, and just as I was finished teaching my girls how to properly make a s'more, the sound of the piano flowed over us. I thought it to be clever of Kyoya-senpai to have brought down a stereo to add to the song, instead of just me singing.

Piano went on for about twenty seconds and then the guitar started in.

Heart beats fast
Colors and promises
How to be brave?
How can I love when I'm afraid to fall?
But watching you stand alone,
All of my doubt suddenly goes away somehow.

One step closer

I have died everyday waiting for you
Darling, don't be afraid I have loved you
For a thousand years
I'll love you for a thousand more

Time stands still

Beauty in all she is
I will be brave
I will not let anything take away
What's standing in front of me
Every breath
Every hour has come to this

One step closer

And all along I believed I would find you
Time has brought your heart to me
I have loved you for a thousand years
I'll love you for a thousand more

Piano started in, one key at a time.

One step closer
One step closer

Applause rang out, signalling that I was finished for tonight. I slid another marshmallow on the skewer and put it over the fire.

I opened the door carefully so not to make a sound and disturb anyone. I walked out of my room, it was across from Haruhi's and next to the twins. I closed my door behind me and walked over to Haruhi's door, carefully opening it to peek in. I saw her sleeping form on the bed under her covers, her breathing looking to be even and calm. I sighed, glad that there was no storm tonight.

Not only that but I was glad that Tamaki-senpai's and Kyoya-senpai's rooms were at the other end of the hall. So they would be unable to disturb her tonight without escaping my notice. I had heard Haruhi's side of the story of the events that took place last year, but I still did not like the idea of either of them being in a compromising position with Haruhi.

I shut Haruhi's door and made my way down the stairs. Careful not to make any unnecessary noise and attract unwanted attention. I went over to the kitchen and looked behind me to make sure I was not followed. As quickly as I was able, I darted through the door and saw that the kitchen was empty, with only the hum of the refrigerator.

I went over to it and opened the sealed door, searching for the single slice of Oreo cheesecake. My stomach growled at the sight of it. It was earlier in the day and we were waiting for the girls to arrive so the festivities could start. I was bored out of my mind, arguments with Kyoya-senpai and conversations with everyone else did not lift my mood. I peeked into the kitchen and saw nothing that would quench my need for a snack. And so, with nothing else to do, I sought Kyoya-senpai to get me some supplies.

Everything arrived in a matter of ten minutes and I had no doubt in my mind that I would have to make up for this favor later down the road. I didn't take long to make, the guys and Haruhi immediately ate theirs after the refrigeration of the dessert was completed, but I settled for inhaling the smell and putting mine away for later. This was my mother's own recipe that she made up herself when she was about my age and later passed it down to me when I was eleven. I thought that it would be more respectful if I were to eat it after finishing my work today, a nice Valentine's Day treat for myself.

I picked up the plate and place it on the granite top of the island and went to work in search of a fork. I must have been searching in the wrong place because there was nothing but large mixing spoons and ladles. I heard a fast rustling sound behind me.

I panicked, freaking out would have been a better word for it though. Instead of logic giving way in my head, there was a sense of fear and paranoia. In my mind there was an armed burglar in the kitchen with me, ready to take me out in order to get what they came for. There was no thought of the multi-million yen security system built into this place and the fact that the only people in the mansion would not hurt me.

But I had come to the understanding many years ago that it's better to let your suspicions be proven later and to act as you saw fit at the moment. Without thinking I blindly reached into the drawer and came face to face with the would-be thief.

I spread my legs to shoulder-width apart and rushed out with a silver ladle in my hands. But my advance on them was stopped short when a pair of startled amber eyes met my green ones.

"Woah," said Hikaru, rearing up and away. He had his hands raised in surrender and spoke softly. "Put the ladle down, before someone gets hurt."

There was a battle cry stuck in my throat and my fingers loosened their hold. Calm and relief quickly spread through my body as I hunched over and breathed in.

"Do you have any idea how much you scared me?!" I whispered-yelled at him, not wanting to wake the entire mansion up. "That is so not cool. What the heck are you doing down here anyway?"

"I could be asking you the same thing," he said. "But since you asked first. The reason I'm down here is because I heard something and I came downstairs to investigate. I followed the noise into the kitchen and the next thing I know you're holding me down at ladle-point. A.J. was right, you are pretty dangerous when you have a weapon."

"I'm also pretty dangerous even when I don't have a weapon, keep that in mind, Hikaru," I said. I dropped the ladle and went to work looking for a fork, but it seems as if Hikaru was already a step ahead of me and found a spoon, probably from when he first snuck in here. He very quickly took a spoonful of my Oreo cheesecake and snuck it in his mouth.

I rushed him again and took the spoon from his hand, gesturing angrily at him with the spoon. "Do you have any idea how long I've waited for this?!" I almost yelled, but it came out a whisper again. "And you have the nerve to eat it in front of me!" I was far beyond the point of being concerned about my use of tableware and took my own spoonful and stuck it in my mouth, happy to be finally tasting it for the first time in months.

I opened an eye and saw that Hikaru was giving me a strange look. The same look from when I first started at Ouran, when it was lunchtime. He wasn't blushing as hard and he kept eye contact with me for a few seconds before sharply turning away. I thought that it would be an appropriate time to bring the topic up after such a long time.

"What is it?" I asked. "You have the weird look in your eyes again." I sat down on a stool and continued eating, looking him over as I chewed.

"It's nothing really," he said evasively. He rubbed his eyes with his hands and left them there for a few seconds to think. I looked at them carefully and saw them stained with something. I put down the spoon and scooted away from the island.

"What is that?" I demanded, pointing. For a second I thought it to be blood but it was golden around the back of his hands and smearing towards the palm. There was a bit of blue and green at the tips of his fingers. It looked like paint but had a more chalkier look. Maybe some kind of oil pastel? Immediately after my saying this he hide his hands behind his back. "Oh, come on," I said. "You can't avoid two questions in a row, so you have to answer at least one."

He sighed, realizing that I wouldn't let this go so easily. "I was just thinking about the time when we first indirectly kissed," he answered. My confusion was transparent enough in the dark that he saw fit to explain. "It was similar to this situation, I was teasing you and you didn't fall for it. And even after I used it you continued to enjoy your lunch."

It took a while to sink it and I realized he reason for blushing and why it wasn't as serious now as it was before. I laughed in spite of myself, not able to control myself. I realized that I was probably laughing too loud and used both hands to muffled the noise. When I managed to get better control on myself, I tilted my head and smiled at him. "I'm sorry, but I just couldn't help myself. I find it funny how even after we've kissed multiple times, you still find sharing a spoon strange."

He blushed a bit more and looked down at his hands. I wondered what he was drawing in his room this late at night, but I thought it a bit too impersonal to ask that out loud, so I left it alone.

"The cake that you made was really good," he said. I had already been thanked and complimented on my cooking skills this morning, but it seemed unreal coming from his mouth.

I looked down at my plate and muttered a shy,"Thanks." I took another bite and chewed to give myself a bit more time before saying something else. "I haven't really cooked much for a while not since..." I stopped, the memories flooding my mind. It wasn't just my mother's death it was also my grandmother's. She died at the old age of seventy-nine, about three months after my grandfather. She was an amazing cook and my earliest memory of her is of her dancing in the kitchen with my mother, making the most incredible kind of magic.

The nine-year-old me would watch from my perch on the counter, not wanting to get in their way and interrupt them They would let my lick the spoon when one of them was finished using it and kiss my head whenever they passed by me. I was too young to understand what happened when both my maternal grandparents died. I couldn't process that they were gone and that I would ever see them again. And I would wake up some nights, their images in my dreams. Those dreams were the best, but they were also a cruel reminder of what would come to pass.

"You can have the rest," I said, pushing the plate away. "I'm not hungry." I got off the stool and tried to make a break for it, but Hikaru put a hand on my arm and trapped me along the wall. I turned my head away and hide my eyes with my bangs. There were tears starting to form and I sniffled to keep them at bay.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"Why are you apologizing?" I asked. I still didn't raise my head.

"For making you cry," he whispered. "I've brought up something bad, didn't I?" I shook my head, still not able to meet his eyes.

When I finally took control of myself, I lifted my chin, looking straight into those amber orbs. "No, the memories were good ones but they still sting. They've been trapped in my head for a while and they seem to want to come out."

"You want to talk about it," he asked. "I'll listen if it makes you feel better." He raised a paint smudged hand to my face and wiped away a stray tear. He then took me by the hand and led me to the living room.

We left that kitchen with the Oreo cheesecake forgotten on the island.

This is the part of the story before things start to get deep and heart-breaking. The next chapter will be a long and meaningful conversation between these two, I'll add a little something extra at the end because I made you wait so long for this.

The featured song of this chapter was composed by both Christina Perri and David Hodges and performed by her. There is a version of this song with her co-performing with Steve Kazee for The Twilight Saga - Part 2: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack.