Lost in the Dark
By E.M. Megs
Chapter 17 - Instinct
"I thought you said she was gone!" Haruhi hissed breathlessly as she glared at Kyoya. She'd just dive-bombed into the nearest door after seeing The Witch walking around like she owned the place.
"I thought she was," he growled back in reply, also out of breath from being dragged with her. "She must have stayed to see me compete. Damn woman."
"What am I supposed to do? I'm competing too and if she sees me I'm screwed!"
"Helmet-"
"No helmets in hand-to-hand combat. Chain-mail, yes; helmets, no."
"Cap. Wear your cap low and she may not recognize you."
"And if my cap falls off while I'm fighting, hmm?" She should have known something like this would happen eventually. 20 years of luck was just a bit too much. 20 years with only 3 people finding out her true identity and 6 about her gender. It had to run out at some point. She just really would have preferred it wouldn't be when her grandmother was around.
"It won't," Kyoya muttered. He whispered a small charm under his breath and touched her hat. "Pull it as low as you need to. It won't fall off, trust me."
She stared at him suspiciously before deciding that trusting him was better than not. She pulled the cap on, tucking her ponytail up inside it. Once her hands lowered, it tightened a bit to cling to the top of her head.
"If worst comes to worst... I'll think of something else," he said quietly, straightening her clothing and trying to make her look more like a male. "There." He clapped her on the shoulder. "Good luck, Haruhi."
–
Haruhi sighed apprehensively as she stood in the arena of cheering people. She represented one of about 15 other Northern-Kiran competitors for the hand-to-hand combat contest. Dressed in a red tunic with a bit of chain-mail underneath to show the Kiran colors. A bit of gold to state she was a northerner. One of the two knives they were allowed to use as weapons was hooked onto her belt – 6 inches – while the other hid her boot-sheath at only 2 inches.
She glanced over at Kyoya who was standing in front of Nari's seating dressed in similar clothing but different colors. He was Northern-Narian apparently, judging by the bit of gold that mixed with his dark purple. Great. If they both made it to the finals that meant that they'd definitely be paired.
Kiran competitors fought each other for the finalist spot last for every event because they were the host. So she got to sit back and wait for Pait, North and South Nari, Muttpitt, Charton, and Girplush to maintain they're own finalists. A few of them had some great techniques but went about them incorrectly. Others she was sure had only joined because of a bet.
She paid special attention to Kyoya's matches. He fought with a sort of elegance that amazed her and rarely used the same move twice in one match. At least once per match he would misstep or stumble and almost end up with a knife at his throat but he always managed to get out of it somehow.
One time in particular he lost one of his knives as he was knocked to the ground and she'd felt an odd feeling of fear fill her that almost made her shoot to her feet. It was the strangest thing she'd felt yet but she wrote it off as being worried about a friend's safety and forced herself to calm down.
Kyoya had managed to block his opponent's knife from stabbing him in the chest with his hand – she winced as the blade went straight through his palm; she'd never know how he managed not to.
In all, she watched as he beat his four opponents to take his place as Northern-Narian finalist.
He smirked at her as she waited by the gate to let her into the arena for her own matches. As he passed her, he murmured, "Good luck, Corporal," while nursing his injured hand. She nodded at him and stretched her arms to prepare herself, her nerves about her cap possibly falling off freaked her out more than anything. He'd have his hand fixed up by the time he had to fight again, she was sure.
–
Kyoya watched from the stands much the same way that Haruhi had for him. He observed her techniques while his personal healer worked on his hand. "One of your muscles tore, Your Majesty," he spoke quietly in fluent Narian.
The raven-haired man scoffed lightly under his breath. In truth, it hurt like hell. But he wasn't about to show any kind of weakness. "Just fix it the best you can, Shiro," he replied distractedly. He kept his eyes on Haruhi's form as she switched from defensive to offensive fluidly, disarming her opponent and holding her single knife to his throat.
He was slightly impressed, as the crowd obviously was judging by the cheering. Above all he could hear Tamaki screaming cheers for his best friend. But that may have been because the moron was sitting only about 10 seats away from him.
"Yessir."
Haruhi's second and third opponents, though tremendous fighters, were no match for the small female. They were defeated rather quickly, much to Kyoya's amusement. He must have been one of the only people in the entire arena that was that snickering to himself at the men Haruhi was fighting. Hardly anyone else knew that a woman was the one beating all these men to a pulp.
And still her cap stayed in place thanks to his magic.
At least it was until the time that Shiro managed to do something to his hand that was so incredibly painful that he completely lost control of the tiny bit of magic he was using to keep Haruhi's cap straight on her head. He gasped and shut his eyes. "Dammit!" he hissed, glaring at his healer.
Shiro squeaked and mumbled a quick sorry before killing the pain and finishing the job. Ironically, in the barely a minute that he'd lost control, Haruhi did a flip that dislodged her cap from her head. It went flying and her eyes quickly shot to where he was sitting in the stands. Kyoya glanced at The Witch quickly, noticing her eyes narrow while Haruhi scrambled for her cap again. He replaced the bit of magic as soon as Haruhi had it on her head again. The Witch still looked at her oddly for a moment before settling down.
Haruhi's opponent seemed to find it odd that she was more worried about her cap falling off than the fact that he had a knife and was coming after her but used the distraction to his advantage.
Kyoya wasn't exactly sure how Haruhi managed to dodge the series of attacks that followed as she got her cap, but she did it. With only one knife too.
And the woman turned around the man's attacks on him until she had him on the ground at knife-point. He gave in and Haruhi won, announced as the Northern-Kiran finalist. He almost smirked as he got the feeling that this competition was about to get very interesting.
–
A late lunch was taken with Haruhi avoiding Kyoya's seating as much as possible because of The Witch's close proximity to him. She went home for lunch, recruiting the twins' mother to heal the few gashes that she'd gotten from fighting. "I don't know why you signed up for this, Haruhi," the older woman tsked softly as she treated her. "If you weren't your mother's daughter then those men probably would have torn you apart."
Haruhi smiled softly. Her peaceful lunch was soon interrupted by the arrival of the Narian King though, who seemed to have finished eating especially early. She suppressed a groan as he walked through her front door.
"Saved you again, it seems," Kyoya muttered, looking around the small kitchen with a smirk.
"I thought I was screwed when my hat fell off. Why'd that happen anyway?"
"Shiro and Nekozawa were healing my hand. While mending a torn muscle the pain disrupted my magic flow, ironically right when you were doing that little flip of yours."
"She suspect anything?"
"Perhaps... She narrowed her eyes when your cap fell off. But she seemed relaxed enough once it was back on."
"How's your hand by the way?"
Yuzuha watched with amusement as the conversation passed back and forth between the two, automatically picking up on their friendship but staying silent.
"Could be better," Kyoya murmured with a frown as he held it out to her to check. "Still quite painful, but it'll have to do." Haruhi frowned as she took his hand in both of hers, turning it to look at it from every direction. She could tell where the muscle had been torn, if only a tiny tear. She traced her fingers over it lightly then over to inch long cut that was all that remained from the previous wound.
Subconsciously, her magic seemed to flow from her fingers across the surface of his skin even without the use of verbal incantations. Kyoya just watched as the skin around his cut tightened and closed together more as her fingers continued to move across it. "You certainly do have a gift, Haruhi," he finally murmured as the cut dispersed into nothing more than a pink scar.
His voice broke her trance. She blinked a few times and mumbled, "I didn't even... Damn. I didn't even mean to do that... I was just thinking about how much it must've hurt to have a knife go through the palm of your hand..."
Kyoya smirked. "That's the gift of a witch, Haruhi. It's useful... But it can be incredibly dangerous too, having that kind of instinctual magic."
She nodded, understanding that he would know all about that subject. "It's both a blessing and a curse," she mumbled.
"Haruhi," Yuzuha murmured from her seat behind the brunette, "You and King Kyoya should be heading back to the arena. It's almost time for lunch to end." The two young adults nodded at her and left. Yuzuha smiled a bit. Perhaps her Princess had finally found what she needed.
–
By some sadistic god's will, the two of them somehow found themselves not fighting each other, but other people all the way up to the point that they both got the positions of the finalists of all Filandria.
Kyoya seemed entirely too confident about his abilities and for some reason she wasn't sure if that made her apprehensive or irked. She knew he'd be a formidable opponent, but the way that he just stared at her with that confident smirk on his face both chilled her to the bone and urged to to prove that godforsaken look wrong.
She bowed and positioned herself in a proper fighting stance as he did the same. He held two six-inch blades while she settled for the one six-inch one she'd been fighting with. "GO NAMAHI!" Haruhi gritted her teeth against the cheers from her idiotic friends that were coming from the stands, choosing to ignore them as she kept her eyes on Kyoya until the flag went down.
Neither of them moved for several moments trying to assess the others' first move. Then, Kyoya decided to take the initiative and strike. She grunted as she blocked his right-handed swipe with her own blade while simultaneously stopping his left-handed downward jab with her heavily metal-and-leather armored forearm. The shock from the downward blow rattled her arm but she gritted her teeth and dealt with it.
"How do you think this will end?" Kyoya asked her while he held the position, attempting to overpower her.
She held firm and huffed back, "You as the loser."
"I highly doubt that." He withdrew slightly to swipe at her head with one of his knives. She ducked low and stepped out of the way of his other weapon. Her fist soon drove toward his gut only to be blocked by his open hand. She stared at him incredulously for a moment then looked up and realized that he had tossed the other knife into the air and that it was now heading back to the ground. "Excuse me while I catch that."
She scoffed as he withdrew and dodged the fist that flew at his face to catch the spinning blade perfectly in his right hand. "Show off... Though I suppose you're only getting started?"
"That would be correct."
If someone had told her a week and a half ago that she would be dancing with the Narian King she would have snorted and called them a moron. However, as the two's series of kicks, punches, and stabs became a dance of will, coordination, and strength, she started to realize that maybe it wasn't such a crazy idea. She had held a blade to his neck twice before already. As he had threatened her with one previously.
The first blow that either of them managed to land was a hard one. Somehow, Kyoya in his flurry of offensive attacks had managed to get through her defense and whack her hard enough in the shoulder to dislocate it.
Her knife dropped almost instantaneously to the ground, her other hand flying to her shoulder as she dodged his next bit of attacks. "Time!" she bit out, face twisting up in pain. Kyoya eased up and graciously allowed it. She glared at him as Yuzuha flitted out toward her. "I think it's dislocated."
The twins' mother nodded and carefully placed her hands on the younger girl's shoulder. "This will hurt." Haruhi nodded and bit her lip, indicating that she was ready. Seconds later her shoulder gave a sickening click as it fell back into place. She didn't allow anything more than a soft cry leave her mouth as she tested her shoulder. Yuzuha approved for her to continue fighting and Haruhi faced Kyoya once more.
His eyes glinted in amusement as the flag went down again. This time Haruhi wasted no time in lunging forward, knowing that once he got the offensive it would be hard to get it back. She liked having a free hand because it was now incredibly useful as she tried to outmaneuver her opponent. She was careful never to let his blade cut her though as she assessed how he would block every single one of her blows.
A pattern started to form so she changed hers to throw him off. He took the change in stride but fumbled in a way that gave her the advantage. One her hands knocked one of his hands from below and flipped the knife into the air. It was caught by the brunette. He swore a bit under his breath as she continued straight into another attack.
"You're a pretty good fighter, for a woman," he grunted quietly as he dodged his own knife.
She scoffed breathlessly. "Do you think I'd join the army if I couldn't?" Finally, she saw an opening and swung her right leg up. It connected with his gut much to her satisfaction. "You should have learned by now that I'm not going to go easy on you, regardless of your royal status."
"I wasn't expecting it," he growled, trying to get his breath back as he doubled over. She calmly held her knife to his throat, earning her a glare from him.
"Give up?"
"In your dreams." Before she could react he had twisted away from her weapon and out of reach. She allowed a small gasp of surprise leave her mouth as their positions switched, him behind her, an arm around chest and knife at her throat. "As you can see, I don't take kindly to losing," he rasped in her ear. Her breath hitched without her control. "Give up?"
She growled under her breath with frustration, hearing Tamaki and the twins screaming from their seats with cheers for her not to give up. She wasn't done quite yet. "You really are a bastard," she muttered, steeling her legs as she dropped the blades in her hands, grabbed both his wrists and swiftly flipped him over her head and to the ground. She squatted quickly and withdrew the 2-inch knife from her boot-sheath.
As she descended on him, he saw her coming and instinctively held the knife that hadn't fallen from his grip upward. A choking noise came from Haruhi's mouth as the blade drove into her chest. Kyoya's eyes widened in the slightest as Tamaki screamed, "NAMAHI!" The blonde fought to get onto the field but was held back by both red-headed twins.
Haruhi, for one, was in slight shock and just stared at him wide-eyed, finding it hard to breathe. She followed through with her previous plan though and held the small knife to his throat. Blood dribbled from the wound in her chest, down the hilt of his knife and onto his dark purple tunic. His eyes met hers. "Haruhi," he whispered.
"Give up," she choked out in reply.
"Draw?" he offered, eyebrows furrowing slightly as he took note of her ragged breathing. If she didn't get medical attention soon she could die. Her stubbornness held as she shook her head, eyes unfocused slightly. "Haruhi, you need medical attention." She glared at him. "Draw."
Her eyes blinked rapidly. She felt faint and his entire face was fuzzy and unfocused to her. "Haruhi, call it a draw." She could hardly keep her arms straight to hold her up so she nodded and dropped her knife next to his head. Her arms collapsed shortly after.
"DRAW!" Kyoya yelled quickly as he eased her up off of him and to the ground beside him. Her eyes fluttered shut as Yuzuha and Ranka ran out, the feminine male in disguise. Kyoya shook his head a bit at himself in anger as he tugged the knife out of her chest.
"Oh Gorsa," her pale-faced father whispered as he knelt beside her, "Sha litra gipsi." Yuzuha merely frowned and started working quickly. Kyoya felt slightly numb, knowing that he'd done this to her, regardless of it being instinct.
"It didn't pierce her heart," Yuzuha murmured distractedly, mostly to console Ranka but her eyes raised to meet his as she said it. "Means she'll probably pull through." Kyoya glanced down at the brunette's face and had no doubts about that. Haruhi was a strong woman, despite how delicate her body looked.
–
Haruhi healed surprisingly quickly. The very next day she woke, her chest sore, but mostly healed. The twins were right next to her bedside, as she expected but was quite angered at. Hikaru jumped to his feet when he saw her stirring. "Haruhi!"
She groaned. Her ears felt like they were about to bleed. "Shouldn't you be watching the Narian royal family?" she growled, glaring at them.
"We got others to cover. You were more important."
She huffed under her breath and said, "No. No I'm not."
"Yes," Hikaru insisted. Kaoru followed with, "You are." Haruhi scowled at the two of them, sitting up with a bit of difficulty. "I would have thought Tamaki would be here too."
"He's competing," they both chimed at once, "And he dubbed it our duty to look after you." This made her scowl deepen quite a bit. Tamaki was ordering her underlings away from the duties that she'd assigned them.
"What competition?" She thought that she had slept through the rest of it. "Wait... What day is it?"
They both smirked at her. "Fencing. He and Hunny are about to be finalists."
Haruhi didn't quite understand until it registered that the fencing tournament was the day after the hand-to-hand combat one. "I... I was only asleep for a day?" They nodded. "And my wound's already healed this much?"
"You're Witch powers are growing, Haruhi." Her eyes shot to the doorway where a suave dark-haired Narian King leaned against the frame. His eyes bore into hers but they were guarded. He seemed hesitant to enter the room. "How's your chest?"
"Fine," she said nonchalantly. Just to prove her point she tugged the front of her shirt down enough to reveal the top of the pink scar that was all that was left. He pursed his lips into a thin line of obvious displeasure. "It's not too bad. It's pretty tough to kill me."
"I noticed," he muttered.
She narrowed her eyes at him while Hikaru shot a glare at the King. "Are you saying you tried to kill her?" the older twin growled.
"Never," Kyoya retorted, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "She's just been injured so many times that it's amazing one of them hasn't killed her yet. Suppose it's because she's half-Witch though." Haruhi observed the ridged set of his muscles silently as he fell quiet again. He wasn't looking at her face, she noted, but the wall next to it.
"Hikaru, Kaoru," she murmured quietly, "I'd like a word with him. Alone." Hikaru looked like he wanted to object but Kaoru rolled his eyes and pulled his older brother out the door before he got the chance to. "It's not your fault," she said as soon as the door was closed completely.
"I never said it was," he retorted with a snort, still avoiding her eyes.
"No. Come here, look me in the eyes, and tell me that you don't believe it's your fault right now." He looked at her like she was crazy but she was insistent, so he complied. In three short strides he was seated on the edge of her bed, his eyes connecting with hers for the first time since he'd entered the room.
"It's not my fault," he stated, his voice sounding very convincing but his eyes giving away the flicker of guilt that he felt.
"You don't believe that. You think it is your fault. Even if it is only partially." She tilted her head at him sympathetically. "It's not. I'm fine. I'm completely healed. As a matter of fact, I'm going to get back into my uniform and go watch Tamaki and Hunny compete."
"No you're not." His face fell into the slightest expression of dread and worry in an instant.
"Yes, I am."
"I'm ordering you not to go back on duty." His voice steeled his confidence in his decision but also told how much he was truly worried about her safety.
She smiled slightly at his concern and said with a soft laugh, "Kyoya. You have no authority over me here. If I were in Nari it would be another matter entirely, but here you can't order me to do anything. I'm sorry."
"Tamaki will agree with me."
"There's no reason for me not to go back on duty. Unless of course, The Witch is still here?"
He paused for a moment. "She's... around. But she's not watching the games." This made her scowl. "You see Haruhi, I'm not ordering you around just for the sake of it or because of your injury. It's because she will kill you if she finds you. On spot, is my guess."
"I'm aware," she said slowly. A sigh fell from her lips carefully, a hand running through her hair. "Fine. I'll stay here. Won't even bother getting dressed if it so pleases you."
He smirked a bit and leaned forward, his face inches from her. "I'll be back after dinner."
–
True to his word, Kyoya returned after he had eaten. "How's Tamaki doing?" she asked immediately, knowing that the blonde would be pleased she asked.
"Finalist."
She cheered inwardly as she asked her second question, "And Hunny?"
"Barely lost to Tamaki for finalist. Both of them are very good fencers. Just like you're a good fighter."
Her heart beat skipped a bit at the compliment. Her mind questioned it for a moment before she shoved it ferociously to the back of her mind. "I see. Who's the other finalist?"
"Gregor Williamington-Quande. Previously illegitimate son of Girplush's King. Tamaki may have his work cut out for him trying to win." Kyoya stared at her. "Either way, I don't think I'll go to the match."
"Why?"
He shrugged. "I've never been particularly interested in fencing. And... I rather stay here and talk with you." Haruhi's heart tugged but it wasn't necessarily an unpleasant tug. She gazed at him for a moment, wondering if he really meant it. "Yes, Haruhi. I really do mean it. Or would you prefer to watch the match?"
She snorted a bit. "Perhaps I would. Watching Tamaki fence is a thing of beauty. Almost just as much as listening to him play piano." She looked away from his face. "When we were younger, I'd watch him and once I tried sparring with him. I still can't beat him."
"You care about him."
"Like a brother," she confirmed.
"You've known him for years and you've never thought of him as anything more?"
Her eyes shot to his. "What are you trying to imply?"
"Nothing. Just a simple question."
"I've never thought of him as anything more. I've never thought of anyone like that. And you know perfectly well why. So why are you asking that question?"
"Curiosity. That's all." He stepped a bit closer to her to which Haruhi eyed him apprehensively.
"Why on earth would you be curious about my love life?"
He shrugged and muttered, "Maybe I was taking precautions. Making sure that you aren't involved over here before I take you to the closing ball."
"You've got to be joking..." He shook his head, a small smile forming on his lips. "Do you know what will happen if I attend the closing ball as a female?"
"Only if you're not in disguise. I have the hunch that you'd look beautiful with longer hair and a ball gown."
"What merit is there to taking me? Even in disguise?"
"Do I need one?" She began to open her mouth but before anything came out he moved forward swiftly and pressed his lips to hers. Her heart yanked but she instinctively kissed him back. He pulled away slowly and murmured, "You said you were never interested in anyone like that. Just say yes, Haruhi."
The emotions that he was forcing her to face at that moment were so incredibly unwelcome that she turned away from him. She didn't want to think about it. Hell, she didn't even want to think of the possibility. "You're going to get yourself killed if you keep doing that."
"You kissed back," he accused softly.
"I don't enjoy you forcing me to confront feelings that might not even exist, Kyoya." Her voice was fiercer than normal, he noted with the slightly bit of amusement. "It was instinct," she defended.
"Whatever you say, Haruhi," he murmured, "I'm still set on taking you to the ball though."
"You can't take no for an answer can you?" she growled. Her hand curled into a loose fist at her side while her heart constricted a bit.
"Just trust me. No one will know who you are. You deserve something like this for once instead of having to act like something you're not."
"You're positive that my grandmother won't be there? And that no one will recognize me?"
"Absolutely. The Witch left about an hour ago and no one will recognize my lover besides my family." She choked up a moment. She had a hunch that he'd planned for her to be introduced as his lover the entire time. "I did plan this but I wasn't sure that you'd go for it. Which is why I'm asking you now to accompany me to the Exodus Festival's closing ball and banquet."
She sighed and looked at him, thoughts whirring around in her head. "I can't believe I'm saying this," she mumbled with a soft laugh, "But yes." Just like always, somehow he'd used his powers of persuasion to convince her to go with him.
–
A/N: My skills at writing fight scenes still suck quite a bit. Blargh. I'm not happy with this. And I considered rewriting the entire thing a few days ago. But I'm too lazy and tired to care at the moment. Plus it would take so much time. And I've already held this from you since... last year? (Haha... I'm so funny. I updated on December 30, 2010.) Thus, guilt made me post this... semi-OOC, semi-crappy, thinger-ma-jig. -cringe-
I'm teaching myself to play piano... Since we got a brand new one. (It's so much fun. Whee. I'm already better than my sister when she's the one that had actual lessons.) I watched all of Torchwood in the course of a week (and I'm very upset about it too. If you've watched the series I'm sure you can understand why) I... procrastinated on homework to dastardly levels. Blahblahblah.
Kudos to: Enigmaticrose4, Nessie-san, just a reviewer, twilightrewriter, Cactus2008, The Phantom Devil, nightworldluvr4ever, YukiruandPercabeth, Mrs. Ootori43ver, XxNightShroudxX, michiiyu, hanna-Chan, JUCHKO, and Magpie09.
PS: Anyone who reads Rule 51 should know that it's going on hiatus till summer. I can barely afford to update this one once every two months. If you checked my profile you would have noticed this already.