BONUS EPISODE: Test of Courage, Separation and Secrets Revealed
Well this is the greatest situation to be in… Amelia thought as she leaned against the door of an abandoned classroom. This wasn't exactly how she planned her day off in the Test of Courage Tournament.
Previously that morning…
It was close to Halloween within the semester, the class was available to have one free day to do whatever they chose. The vote became unanimous amongst the class for a Test of Courage Tournament. Amelia was just happy to have a day off after the festivities a few weeks ago. Midterms were already hard enough as it was. Everyone was separating into two groups: Team A and Team B. The first round at night would've been Team A being scared by Team B before it switched up scaring each other senseless.
"Hey Imai! Let's get Haruhi and the four of us can be a team!" the twins exclaimed as they dragged her out into the hallway finding the Class President freaking out about the tournament. Unfortunately for him the twins were all on it making him freak out more.
"Oh there you all are, I'm taking requests for teams!" Momoka, the vice president of the class announced as she saw the five of them in the hallway.
"The five of us will be a team!" the twins announced, putting their arms around Haruhi, Amelia and the Class President, Kazukiyo (but mainly everyone just calls him President out of habit).
That's when it all started…a tournament that they had no idea would go completely the opposite of what they planned. For the Black Magic Club had overheard their festivities and the class was going to get a lot more than they bargained for…
...
That afternoon at Hitachiin Estate…
"Hey Imai you think we're going to scare the pants off of Team A?" Hikaru grinned as she sat on the bed as he and Kaoru pulled out a few scary tricks out of their closet.
"I would be surprised if you didn't with all this stuff you guys keep," Amelia replied. Kaoru grinned grabbing a mask with fake blood in an empty eye socket, putting it behind his back as he went to the end of the bed as Amelia examined a gooey fake slime.
"Hey Imai," Kaoru called out with the mask on. Amelia turned around to face him.
"Oh my God!" she shrieked, throwing one of the pillows at him and laughing after the initial shock.
"Gotcha!" Kaoru grinned. Hikaru laughed and Amelia grinned. Kaoru moved the pillow off his face.
"You're such a pain," Amelia giggled. Hikaru sat behind her as Kaoru sat in front of her putting the mask in the pile of tricks for the night.
"You love it and we know it," Hikaru smirked from behind her.
"Uh huh," Amelia smirked back at them. "As long as you guys don't push me into a closet in the dark alone I think we won't have any problems."
"What are you afraid a monster will come out and get you this time if you get stuck?" Hikaru asked.
"With her luck you tonight I wouldn't go against the odds," Kaoru reminded jumping off the bed and heading towards the door. "I'm going to grab a few snacks. I'll be right back."
"Bring some more of those cookies Imai brought they're on the counter!" Hikaru grinned waving.
"That was the plan," Kaoru replied, closing the door behind him.
Amelia picked up a few of the tricks putting them in a box on the floor.
"Is there anything you guys are actually afraid of?" Amelia asked as Hikaru was playing with a gooey fake slime.
"Never really thought about it," Hikaru replied. She knelt down near the bed picking up a few things until she saw something odd. She saw magazines under the bed.
"Hey what's this-?" Amelia questioned reaching out to the magazines.
"What's-AH!" Hikaru began, jumping over to where she was sitting, leaning his back against the bed, blocking her view.
Amelia raised her brows at him. Why is he blocking me from seeing them?
"Just a few things I was flipping through, I forgot to put them away," Hikaru mentioned, grabbing them and putting them behind his person.
"Oh really?" she asked glancing behind him, then pointing at the other end of the room. "Oh what's that over there?"
"You're going to have to do a lot better than that," Hikaru smirked slyly. Amelia sighed, rolling her eyes looking at the floor in thought. How do I catch him off guard?
Suddenly she smirked. She had an idea. She felt that rush of adrenaline. That click that let out her "wolf" side. Hikaru blinked at her as she scooted even closer to him. She sat directly in front of him and smirked.
"Well that's certainly a different look for you," Hikaru smirked as he looked at her expression. "I'm starting to wonder if we're rubbing off on you."
"Maybe but that's only if I get what I want that I truly take after you," Amelia remarked as she looked at him eye level
"And what is that exactly?" Hikaru smirked.
"I want to see what you're hiding from me," Amelia replied.
"And if I don't show you? What can you possibly do about it?" Hikaru grinned mischievously.
She almost mimicked his grin which seeing it from a girl made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. He didn't realize how worse it would be when she leaned closer to his face and her voice came out.
"If I want something. I'll find some way of getting it," Amelia answered, her voice smooth, seductive and as alluring as she did with Tamaki and Kaoru. Hikaru turned beat red when her voice suddenly changed to a completely foreign tonality he wasn't used to hearing from her. Amelia eyed him before scooting closer. He almost instinctively backed up not knowing what to do.
"W-What are you doing?" Hikaru stuttered. She leaned in towards his ear making him shake when he could feel her breath near his neck. His face got hot and he couldn't control it.
"Proving a point," Amelia began in the same alluring fashion. Hikaru swallowed hard gripping onto the magazines behind him. She grinned at his red face.
"I can feel you shake next to me. And if I really wanted to…" Amelia paused, tracing a fingernail down his arm holding the magazines. He shivered a bit flinching a bit. "I can make it worse."
Hikaru tried to laugh it off but he couldn't. He was nervous and he couldn't figure out why.
"You think this kind of thing works on me? It looks like you're trying our tactics on the girls on me," Hikaru smirked trying to hide his nervousness.
Amelia reached out to his hand holding the magazines behind his back, making her even closer to him. Hikaru felt his back lean against the bed and suddenly realized her chest was leaning slightly on his.
"It seems to be working so far don't you think?" she teased. She traced her fingers around his clenched hand around his wrist making him twitch and let go. She grinned, immediately grabbing the magazines.
"Gotcha," she stated, immediately backing off with the magazines in her hands standing up. Hikaru growled in frustration wiping his face.
"You cheated," Hikaru grumbled.
"You're just a sore loser. And you think you can hide this from…" Amelia grinned
She paused, looking at the magazine covers.
"Me…" she finished. They were magazines of her on the cover page when she sponsored her father's company (same ones the twins won in the Find Haruhi and Imai's Weakness Game). Her face suddenly turned even redder.
"Hey sorry it took so long someone moved the snacks," Kaoru announced as he came in through the door. He froze when he closed the door seeing that Amelia was holding the magazines in her grip of her.
"Uh, Imai where did you find those?" Kaoru asked nervously. Hikaru stood up snatching the magazines out of her hands stuffing them into a dresser drawer. Amelia covered her face in her hands trying to breathe. They…kept pictures of me?
She didn't know whether to be flattered or flat out embarrassed. She felt chills down her spine.
"I'm…I'm going to go," Amelia commented pacing the room before grabbing her bag.
"Wait Imai, let me explain," Hikaru grabbed her arm.
"I'll see you two at school," Amelia replied, tugging.
"But-" Hikaru objected. Amelia looked straight at him. Her eyes were trying to examine him. Hikaru turned redder seeing her face to face not just after the event but even the discovery.
"Hikaru. Let her go," Kaoru directed. Hikaru looked at his brother in confusion. Kaoru opened the door, walking up to Hikaru letting him let go his grip on Amelia and smiled softly at her.
"We'll see you at school," Kaoru said softly. Amelia felt a lump in her throat as she looked at the two of them. Hikaru was completely embarrassed while Kaoru was trying to keep everything under control but hiding a bit more embarrassment as well.
Amelia threw her bag over her shoulder, walking swiftly out of the room.
The twins watched as she left out of sight.
"Damn it why did you let her go," Hikaru growled at Kaoru. Kaoru looked calmly at him.
"How would you be if you saw pictures of us in someone else's house we cared about?" Kaoru asked. Hikaru rolled his eyes growling in frustration. "She just needs some time to think."
Hikaru paced his room kicking his dresser. Kaoru turned to look at him, concerned at his suddenly rash behavior.
"I forgot to move them when she came over," Hikaru spat he sighed putting his head in his hands. "I'm such an idiot…now she thinks we're perverts…"
It was odd for Kaoru to see Hikaru this way. He was starting to wonder if Hikaru had hidden feelings of Amelia too. But the worst part of it was, Hikaru made a point. What if she doesn't talk to them due to the incident? Then what will happen?
…
That evening 10pm…
Amelia stayed separated from the rest of the group as they waited around for the Team A to approach. The twins tried to hide their discomfort by picking on the class president until they found out that he did this whole tournament for Momoka. Then they left him alone. Haruhi tried to comfort the class president but that was working with very little effort. Amelia sat on the floor leaning her back against the wall near the staircase, folding her legs and arms in front of her.
"You think she's still pissed at us?" Hikaru asked as they stood nearby the stairwell.
"If she hasn't talked to us this entire time, take your guess," Kaoru commented.
"Man…I feel like such an idiot," Hikaru sighed.
"We could try to help out the class president first before-" Kaoru paused feeling a sudden cold chill on the back of his neck. "What the-! Hikaru! Did you just touch my neck?"
Amelia looked over from Kaoru's exclamation. It was hard to ignore them at that point.
"No I didn't," Hikaru replied.
"Weird…" Kaoru commented. Amelia suddenly felt a chill before hearing something clacking down the stairs. She immediately got up joining the group in confusion.
"I thought Team A was coming from the other direction?" she questioned (breaking her long silence with the twins).
"They were. But that is coming from upstairs," Kaoru informed. Before they could analyze the situation, a skull bumped down the stairs.
Everyone shrieked in terror.
"What the heck is that?!" Kaoru exclaimed.
"And they told us not to play dirty!" Hikaru growled, running up and kicking up the skull back up the stairs.
"Nice shot!" Amelia encouraged without her realizing it. Hikaru glanced at her grinning proudly. Suddenly the skull thunked at the top of the stairs followed by an Ow.
Then a creepy floating voice came into hearing with an equally creepy man appearing from the top of the stairs.
"I thought the experiment would've worked this time…Meddlers! It was YOU!" the man growled, his face all deformed. Amelia screamed in horror.
The class president ran to the right screaming in terror. Kaoru noticed following him immediately.
"President! Wait for me!" Kaoru called out. Amelia was about to grab Kaoru's arm but he was already out of reach when he ran off.
"Kaoru wait up!" Hikaru called out grabbing Haruhi instinctively. "Run!"
"Wait what about-?" Haruhi called out until they were trapped in a net down the hall as they hung above the ground.
Amelia still scared had the half faced man grab her pick her up and run off with her down the opposite end of the hall.
"Hey! Let go of me you jerk!" Amelia called out. Hikaru looked back hearing her.
"Imai!" he called out.
"Haruhi! Hikaru!" Amelia screamed as she was carried away.
"Imai! KAORU!" Hikaru yelled out thrashing around in the net as she disappeared with the man in the darkness.
…
Currently…back to where we started…
When the man stopped she noticed a classroom door. He opened the door about to shove her into the room. She growled punching his back.
"You're such a jerk! Put me down!" she growled.
"Oh I will," he stated, his voice floating as he put her down, grabbing her by the shirt and shoved her in. She stumbled, grabbing his tie and pulling him in.
"Whoa!" he called out. Amelia fell on her back with the man on top of her. She grunted as he landed on her
"Ow…" the man groaned. "Imai! Why did you do that?!"
Amelia furrowed her brows at him, immediately reaching for his face pulling off the rubbery prosthetic off his face.
"Ah!" he yelped covering his face still above her, all fours on the floor. Amelia looked down in curiosity seeing Nekozawa under the makeup.
"Nekozawa?" she questioned in disbelief. He looked up and smirked.
"Trick or treat Mr. Wolfe," Nekozawa greeted with a sly smile. "Pleasure to meet up again. However, I must be off. Many more things to do understand?"
He quickly got up laughing lowly before running to the door. Amelia got up.
"Wait!" Amelia yelled as he opened and closed the door locking it behind him, leaving her in the room. Amelia growled.
"Hey! Let me out you jerk!" Amelia pounded the door. "Nekozawa!"
She rapped the door so many times that she could hear the echo from the spacious classroom.
"Hikaru! Kaoru! Haruhi! ANYONE!"
…
Another member of the black magic club shoved the class president and Kaoru into their own separate room. When the door slammed shut, locking with a slight click from the outside, that's when Kaoru and the class president looked around.
"Damn it they locked us in!" Kaoru growled. He started pounding on the door. "Hey let us OUT!"
The class president looked around the room.
"Um which one are you?" he questioned with uncertainty.
"I'm Kaoru," Kaoru sighed. The class president looked around in confusion.
"Hey wasn't Imai on our team? I didn't see him with Hikaru or Haruhi either," he observed. Kaoru looked around and eyes suddenly widened at the thought.
"Hikaru!" Kaoru slammed his fists on the door where he and the class president were locked in. "HIKARU! WE NEED TO FIND IMAI! HIKARU!"
…
"Nekozawa I swear to GOD! LET ME OUT!" Amelia growled. She looked around the room breathing heavily from all the energy. She looked through her pockets. No phone. She left it in her bag in the clubroom. Shit.
She went beside the door sitting on the floor leaning her back against the wall. She was stuck. No phone, no way of contacting people. She was going to be locked in there until morning. She could feel herself shake from being trapped. Outside was pitch black with a tiny bit of moonlight coming from the window. But it was dark.
Amelia reached under her loosened shirt grasping onto her wolf necklace.
"Dad…help…"
…
"So are you guys fighting with Imai?" Haruhi asked as she leaned on Hikaru to snip the net with her Mori's sewing kit (awkward position for both of them really). Hikaru blushed looking away from Haruhi.
"What makes you say that?" he asked. Haruhi continued cutting the net.
"You guys weren't talking to each other since we got here," Haruhi pointed out.
"I don't think she'll talk with us again anytime soon," Hikaru rolled his eyes.
"I wouldn't say that," Haruhi disagreed. Hikaru glanced at her.
"You don't know Imai, she's stubborn as anything when we screw up," Hikaru stated firmly.
"Yeah but I don't think you guys realize how much she cares," Haruhi mentioned.
"Oh so you you're miss know it all by girls we hang out with too?" Hikaru spat sarcastically.
"No she told me," Haruhi corrected. Hikaru looked directly at her.
"When?" he questioned narrowing his eyes.
"Well…"
Flashback
…
"It's just. I've been sort of a wreck you know?" Amelia began as she walked beside Haruhi out into the green grass of the pensione. "I found out that the Hikaru and Kaoru helped me out with something," Amelia admitted embarrassed, turning a bit red.
"They…helped my name not get spread on a scandalous paper. I mean…this isn't the first time they helped me you know?" Amelia mentioned.
"Really? That's oddly thoughtful of them," Haruhi stated.
"Yeah…I just I don't know how I feel about it you know? It's the first time someone outside of my family has been willing to help me other than Isao," Amelia admitted. Haruhi looked at her and smiled slightly. "At least, you know in a really long time…"
…
Hikaru's eyes widened at Haruhi's encounter with Amelia. Is that why she's been so close all the time?
His face turned beat red remembering Amelia being so physically close to him. It made him shiver at the thought. Suddenly he felt his weight drop to the floor and they were out of the net and they were free from their trap. Hikaru ran off without Haruhi to find Kaoru making her try to sprint after him.
…
Kaoru looked up as he heard rattling on the door.
"Kaoru!" Hikaru burst in through the door.
"Hikaru!" Kaoru greeted, tears in his eyes as he embraced his brother.
"Uh…where's Haruhi?" the class president asked looking around.
"Oh crap I forgot about her," Hikaru commented sheepishly. Haruhi came staggering down the hall.
"Really?" Haruhi breathed. "You just take off as soon as I get us out. Thanks a lot…"
She looks around.
"Imai's not here?" she asking breathing heavy. The twins looked at each other in alert.
"Come on!" Hikaru beckoned as he and Kaoru ran out the door. Haruhi rolled her eyes walking with the class president to not be out of breath.
…
The twins hit the main center of where they met up.
"Okay Hikaru, where did she go?" Kaoru asked. Hikaru looked down the hallway opposite of where Kaoru and the class president ran down. A cold hand came down putting itself down on Kaoru's shoulder. The twins shrieked seeing a large 6'2" man, lean and with dark brown hair and light brown eyes.
"You boys looking for something?" the man asked. Kaoru breathed in relief.
"Thank God I thought you were another one of those Team A members," Kaoru breathed.
"We're not in trouble for getting locked in a room are we?" Hikaru asked. "You're one of the faculty right?"
"Not exactly," he replied with a soft smile. "And no you won't get in trouble I'll make sure of that. Now what's the trouble now?"
"We're looking for someone, Imai Wolfe. S-He's about this high (motions to Kaoru's height), blue eyes and was wearing his uniform. He got caught up in a tournament mishap we weren't expecting. Have you seen him?" Hikaru asked.
The man smirked.
"I would try that way," he replied, pointing down the hall opposite of where Kaoru and the class president got trapped. The twins looked down the hallway. "I would suggest you keep your ears open. I'm sure she'll be very grateful…"
The twins looked down the dark hallway.
"You think Imai's down there?" Hikaru asked. Kaoru furrowed his brows suddenly in realization. Did that man say she'll?
"Hold on what did you mean by-" Kaoru began to question but the man was gone. Completely. Kaoru and Hikaru looked in the spot where the man was and gave chills.
"You think it's another trick?" Hikaru questioned. Then they heard a door being pounded down the hall.
"Hikaru! Kaoru!" lightly echoing down the hall. The twins immediately ran down the hall following the noise.
…
Amelia jumped when she heard rattling and the door bursting open with Hikaru and Kaoru coming through.
"Imai!" they called out and saw her on the floor shaking. She looked up, standing up slowly.
"Imai are you okay?" Hikaru asked as she stood, walking up to her and putting a hand under her chin, examining her face. Hikaru looked at her inspection-like.
Amelia rolled her eyes.
"I'm fine you don't have to frisk me," Amelia rolled her eyes. Hikaru's face turned red at the thought.
"You sure you're all right?" he asked.
"Other than being trapped here for-" she began but was interrupted by Hikaru suddenly wrapping his arms around her, embracing her, holding her tightly. Amelia furrowed her brows in confusion.
"I'm sorry…I'm sorry we weren't here sooner," Hikaru whispered in her ear. "And I'm sorry for earlier today. You deserve to know why we have the magazines of you."
"It's okay…" Amelia whispered, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I'm sorry too."
Kaoru put a hand on Hikaru's shoulder as Haruhi and the class president finally reached them outside of the hallway.
"We'll let her know later in private," Kaoru smiled softly, motioning towards the others. "Right now we gotta find who's been responsible for the scare tactics."
Kaoru, Haruhi and the class president headed out. Hikaru grabbed Amelia's hand making her blush a bit.
"Stay close to me I don't want us getting separated again," he whispered as he led her out of the room.
…
The twins, Haruhi, Amelia and the class president headed to Class 1-A to find the rest of the Team A and B were gathered.
"Hey there you guys are! We've been looking all over for you!" Momoka exclaimed.
"You mean you guys weren't the ones scaring us?" Amelia questioned.
"What? Why would we do that? We were looking for you!" one of the classmates objected. Suddenly one of the girls pointed towards the window.
"In the window," she whimpered.
Suddenly a large dark shape engulfed the window's light making everyone in the classroom shriek in terror. That was the end of their Test of Courage Tournament.
The next day…
All over did the class see their terrified faces on the billboards as "Best of Cowards" title from the Black Magic Club coming out to scare them. It wasn't until the Host Club stood with them that the twins, Haruhi and Amelia felt embarrassed.
"That jerk. First he locks me in a classroom, then he scares us with his stupid puppet!" Amelia sighed in frustration.
"That clearly is Bereznoff, or rather Nekozawa," the twins agreed looking at the photo snapshot of them.
"You guys left my little girls in trouble without telling me?" Tamaki growled at the twins.
"By the way Hikaru, how did you find Kaoru?" Kyoya asked. Hikaru looked up in thought.
"Oh I heard Kaoru come up and tell me he was locked in Class 2-C," Hikaru stated matter of fact. Amelia looked at him oddly.
"How could he do that if he was 'locked in class 2-C'?" Amelia repeated.
"I…don't know," Hikaru replied.
"Hikaru that's physically impossible for me to do," Kaoru looked at him oddly. Amelia rolled her eyes.
"Well I'm heading to the club for an early start," Amelia mentioned, slinging her bag over her shoulder looking at the twins. "Can I talk to you guys in private after the club activities please?"
"About what?" Hikaru asked.
"You should know it's about what I found under your bed yesterday," Amelia smirked. "And if you don't talk I figured I have my ways of making you talk."
Hikaru turned red immediately swallowing hard. Kaoru looked over at his brother in confusion as she walked away towards the club. Kyoya looked curiously at them.
"Not exactly like it's any of my business. But what exactly did she find under your bed?" Kyoya questioned.
"Remember those magazines of her you gave us for that fear competition? Yeah…she found them. Under our bed…" Hikaru replied embarrassed.
"Ah well no wonder she's more than a little curious of why," Kyoya smirked.
"What do we tell her? We can't just tell her we won it off a contest," Kaoru asked.
"Yeah than she'll think we're even more perverted!" Hikaru sighed in frustration.
"You can always tell her that you got the magazines from your mother," Kyoya smiled slyly. The twins perked up at the thought. Kyoya laughed a bit.
"But she might as well find out what she really is to you two right?" Kyoya asked. The twins looked at him bewildered.
"What are you talking about?" they asked.
"If you don't know now, I'd suggest you really think about it," Kyoya joked as he walked his way towards the club. You'd be stupider than I thought if you honestly can't figure that one out, Kyoya thought as the twins looked at each other in confusion.
…
Later at Hitachiin Estate…
"So Imai do you understand now? We just had the magazines because our Mom told us to look at them for fashion ideas," Hikaru grinned. Amelia looked at him with doubt as she sprawled out on the floor in front of her the magazines they had. Kaoru laid on his stomach on his bed with one of the magazine issues.
"Why do I find that hard to believe?" Amelia examined his facial features. Hikaru grinned going over to her putting his head in her lap grabbing one of the magazines of her.
"Come on Imai? Do you see this style of clothing? The hair? The makeup?" Hikaru teased. "You would be very surprised how inspiring it is for Mom's little fashion helpers."
Amelia rolled her eyes smirking.
"Why do I feel like you're making an excuse for something else. Like I don't know maybe you do more than look at the pictures? You know?" Amelia teased. Hikaru gave a blank look until smirking. He sat up turning himself around and scooting closer to her, leaning close to her face.
"Now why would I have any incentive to do that when the girl in the pictures is right here?" Hikaru grinned. Kaoru looked over from the bed and rolled his eyes.
"Hikaru behave," he smirked. "You don't want to get in trouble twice in one week do you?"
"I don't know if you're trying to flatter me with your mischievous type routine or whatever but it's not going to work," Amelia smirked. Kaoru laughed hopping off the bed and getting behind her.
"We're only mischievous on our actions. Not on how we see people," Kaoru corrected, putting his hands on her shoulders rubbing them gently as Hikaru sat in front of her.
"The girl in the pictures is the same girl sitting in front of us. Our secret," Hikaru smirked. "Why can't we be the mischievous type with you when I'm starting to think you'll like it?"
Amelia swallowed hard turning red, glancing away until she looked back into his eyes. Something about her eyes looking into Hikaru's was odd. Like suddenly a realization smacked him hard across the head. He backed up, suddenly eying her when she wasn't looking.
Kaoru even noticed her heart racing when she leaned back against him as he rubbed her shoulders. His face suddenly turned red in realization as well. Were they suddenly imagining it? Or could she really be…
LA LA LA! LA LA LA LA LA! Hikaru's phone was ringing with Tamaki's ringtone. All of them jumped. Hikaru rolled his eyes growling in frustration getting up and hanging up on the king.
"Idiot is probably still mad at us for bringing you and Haruhi out to the tournament," Hikaru spat. Kaoru rolled his eyes. Amelia sat up quickly, after she got a text from her driver.
"Oh that's my driver. He's apparently here," Amelia cleared her throat running a hand through her hair. Kaoru got up as she gathered her things, slinging her bag over her shoulder while he stood alongside Hikaru. "Call me over the weekend will you?"
"Um Imai… are you okay? You look a little," Kaoru asked motioning to her face.
"Flushed," they finished.
"Yeah I'm fine I'm sure just a little hot in here," Amelia laughed nervously. The twins looked at her in curiosity suddenly feeling the same thing.
She hugged them tightly before heading out the door.
"I'll see you on Monday!" she announced trotting to the door and shutting it behind her.
Kaoru swallowed hard.
"Did you see what just…?" Hikaru began.
"Hikaru, I think…I think we get to her more than we ever thought," Kaoru informed.
"She likes us close to her…" they said smirking at the idea.
Not just as friends but…as something we weren't expecting.