A/N: The air is getting thick with tension. Yasu is still free and now we find out the girl he put in the hospital is connected to Chika. What is Rie hiding from Hunny? Well with the Shadow King on the case now, nothing can stay hidden for long. Hope you like the new chapter.

Chapter 51 – Lies and Guilt

Kyoya's eyes followed his brother's gaze landing on the unconscious girl in the bed. He couldn't have heard Yuuichi right because they didn't even know who she was, how did his brother find her sister? A disbelieving expression settling on his features, something felt off and he would not let his guard down and allow anyone to get the jump on him, "What do you mean her sister?"

"Something tells me that it is a longer story than what I have been given, but this girl is Yasuchika Haninozuka's girlfriend's sister," the doctor explained, "I suggest you two follow me to the family room I have everyone waiting so that we can get our answers."

"I agree," Mori stated. He wasn't sure what was going on or how on earth Yasu somehow picked the one girl remotely related to his family, but he was going to find out.

Nodding, Kyoya concurred, "Yes, this is strange and I don't like it."

The two younger men followed the eldest Ootori down the hall to the family room and walked in on a very tense situation. Chika and Hunny were glaring daggers at each other. Rie was holding onto Chika afraid that her boyfriend was going to do something he would regret later, and Haruhi was holding onto Hunny's hand knowing that they fought all of the time, but also knowing that the hospital was not the place for a duel. All eyes turned to the trio that walked into the room.

"Kyo-Chan, have you been able to talk to her?" Hunny asked his friend.

Shaking his head, Kyoya stated, "Not yet. She woke up but wasn't fit to answer any questions." He turned his attention to the woman standing behind Chika making a mental note that she seemed to be quivering and unable to look him in the eye, "I am assuming you are the sister my brother told me about?"

"Y-yes s-s-sir," Rie stammered forcing the words out of her mouth.

Kyoya studied the woman, his expression hidden behind his glasses. Pushing up his spectacles, he frowned, "Do you want to tell me why your sister was consorting with a known criminal?"

"There is no way my sister would do that!" Rie found her voice and her backbone, but as soon as she realized she had blurted that out in a raised voice, she turned meek again, "S-sorry. I-I didn't mean to y-y-yell."

"Kyoya, take it easy on her!" Chika growled. He could tell that Rie was afraid, but that didn't mean he was. He had known Kyoya and the Ootori family for too long. "Rie this is Kyoya Ootori and my cousin, Takashi Morinozuka, but a lot of people call him Mori. Kyoya, Takashi, this is Rie."

"Hello," Mori said in a monotone and short voice. There was something about her that he didn't quite trust.

Looking around the room, Kyoya instructed everyone to sit. No one was leaving until he was satisfied and had some answers. Sitting down next to Hunny, he stared at the woman who seemed to have a death grip on Chika's hand if the white color was any indication, "Tell me what you do know."

Rie glanced at Chika and received an encouraging smile from him. Clearing her throat she began her story, but could not look anyone in the eye, "My sister, Masami, and I had a fight over the phone a couple of days ago. She was jealous that I had a boyfriend who treated me right. Her boyfriend had cheated on her with her best friend. On top of that, she was informed that there would be cutbacks at her job. I might have been a little less than understanding to her crying. She hung up on me and I didn't hear from her again. This wasn't normal since we usually check in every day regardless if we are mad at each other or not. When I didn't hear from her after a couple of days I tried to call her, but she wouldn't take my calls. I finally asked Yasuchika to come with me to her apartment. I was too afraid to go alone. She wasn't home, but it looked like she had company at some point in time. I thought that maybe she made up with her boyfriend, but when I called him, he hadn't seen her. I started to panic and Yasuchika said that he knew who could help me. We tried to call you Ootori-sama, but you didn't answer your phone. So he went to his brother. The next thing I know I got a call saying that my sister had been found and I was in the car on the way here." She spoke so softly everyone strained to hear what she had to say.

Narrowing his eyes on her, Kyoya had the same impression that Hunny did… Rie was hiding something. He was about to ask her some questions, but Chika had picked up her tale where she left off.

"Rie gave me a picture of her and her sister together. I took it to Mitsukuni and he recognized the girl as the one from the drop this morning," Chika explained.

Shifting his eyes back to Rie, Kyoya pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, the light glaring off of the lenses, "What aren't you telling us? Everything is pertinent to this case even if you think it isn't."

"Kyoya, don't be like Mitsukuni, and don't treat her like she is less than nothing just because she is a commoner. She told you what happened," Chika warned the older man.

"You are too close to this Yasuchika. Haruhi is one of my closest friends and she is a commoner, so do not use that accusation on me because it holds no bearing on this and you know it. She is hiding something and you can't take a step back to see it. Shall I point out all of the clues in her body language that tell me she is either lying or not giving us the whole story? The death grip on your hand, the fact that she can't look any of us in the eyes, her nervous and small voice are just some of them." Kyoya sneered. He didn't care who this girl was to Chika, he needed answers. His friends and his family were more important than some slip of a girl that the youngest Haninozuka had just started dating.

Hunny intervened before Chika could say anything. He could tell that his brother wanted to yell and threaten the Shadow King, but it was in his best interest if he didn't for a variety of reasons. Plus, Kyoya was right. "Don't Chika-Chan. Kyo-Chan is right. She is either lying to us or hiding something. I know you care about her, but you can't protect her when the lives of so many are at risk."

"You are only trying to protect Haruhi!" Chika bellowed.

Sighing, Hunny shook his head, "No, I'm not. She is one of many. Think about it Chika-Chan. We have a girl who is lying in a hospital bed injured because Yasu hit her with the butt of a gun. Takashi is in danger; I am in danger. You, Satoshi, Beth-Chan, and our other family members could also be at risk. We know for sure all seven of the original hosts are on the hit list, but how many more just because they are connected to us; and that includes her. Do you want to take that chance that she isn't lying to us, or do you want to find out the whole truth and try to protect everyone."

Chika turned in his seat and faced his girlfriend, "Is there something you aren't saying?" He studied her features and knew that his brother and Kyoya were right. She couldn't look him in the eye and instead looked past him.

"No," Rie whispered and shook her head.

Frowning, Chika demanded, "You need to tell us everything. People's lives are in danger!"

"There is nothing to tell," she choked out. She didn't want to face the guilt and the blame. If she could keep everything locked up and pretend it never happened, then the injuries and the danger that befell her sister were not her fault.

"You're lying," Chika accused her and stood up walking away from her. He couldn't support her if she insisted on lying to him and the others in the room. Not when something so important was on the line.

"No!" Rie cried out feeling bereft as soon as he stopped holding her hand.

Kyoya scowled, "Are you trying to play some sort of game? Were you after a rich husband this whole time and you are afraid your plot will be discovered? Let me make something perfectly clear, I can find out anything and everything about you. Your little game would have been discovered anyway. You would do well to know that not only are you going up against the three powerful families present in this room, but there are two more that are not represented here at this time. Is that something you want to do? Do you want five of the wealthiest and most powerful families in Japan to go after you?"

Rie's eyes widened and the color drained from her face. Her gaze settled on the only other girl in the room. She was a commoner also; maybe Haruhi would be on her side because they came from the same place, but the frown she saw staring back at her told her she was alone.

"I can see from your facial expression that I hit very close to home. So what game are you playing?" Kyoya asked in a condescending manner.

"I-I am not p-p-playing a game at all," Rie's throat felt tight as she spoke tears pricking her eyes. Raising her finger and pointing at Haruhi, she cried, "Are you n-not worried about the g-games she is playing?"

Haruhi was taken aback. She couldn't believe that Chika's girlfriend was trying to turn around and accuse her of wrong doing. She had already paid for her crimes and she would not sit back and allow someone to take advantage of her friends or to besmirch her reputation, she didn't care who it was. Blunt as ever, Haruhi spoke up for herself, "I am not the one that is using someone to get ahead in life. I paid my dues and worked my ass off to get into Ouran Academy on a full scholarship. That is where I met my friends. I never tried to use them for anything except friendship. You have no right to try to point fingers at me. This is all on you. I suggest you talk now and make things easier on you in the long run because Kyoya is not a person to take lightly. Trust me from experience."

Swallowing hard, Rie knew that she had dug her own grave; and based on the glares she was receiving from every single person in the room, it had been wrong to attack Haruhi. They appeared to be protective of her, why couldn't it be easier? Glancing at Chika, she knew that she had lost his support too. He looked disgusted with her. Did she dare tell them everything now? Rie knew the moment the words were spoken, the blame for her sister would squarely rest on her own shoulders.

"Haruhi is right. She has proven herself time and time again. You, however, we don't really know anything about. I suggest you keep anything you have to say about you, and do not say anything you know nothing about," Kyoya glared. He could see the fear present in Rie's eyes and could not feel sorry for her. She was nobody to him.

"I want to see my sister, r-r-right n-now!" Rie stood up and demanded.

Yuuichi shook his head, "No, I believe you pose a risk to my patient and I will not allow you into her room. I'm sorry."

"You can't do that!" Rie wailed.

"Actually, I can and I will. It is up to me to make sure my patient is safe and in an environment that nourishes healing. From what I have heard, you will do nothing but hinder her recovery," the doctor affirmed frankly.

Legs giving out from under her, Rie fell back into her chair. What was she going to do now? "I can have her transferred to another hospital," she sobbed.

"You can try, but it won't work," Kyoya avowed.

"So you would keep me from my own sister?" Rie asked stricken.

"While she is in this hospital, she is the responsibility of her medical team and me. After she gets out of the hospital, it is up to her to decide who she wants to see and who she wants to cut out of her life," Kyoya explained.

Chika felt like he was caught in the middle. He could see how much Rie was hurting and he wanted to comfort her, but he also knew that she wasn't giving them the full story and he couldn't protect her. His mind was swimming with everything that had been said, and it made him wonder if he was just a stepping stone to her. Did he really matter to her? Sighing and with hands fisted at his sides, Chika snapped, "Just tell them! Whatever it is, you have to tell them!"

Flinching, Rie couldn't stand the accusing stares any longer and looked down at her lap with tears making their way down her face and dropping onto her hands and arms. With her body trembling, she broke down and spilled her shameful secret, "It is all my fault. When I called her the other day, I bragged to her that I had rich fiancé and she had nothing. I told her that I was going to be able to leave my commoner life behind. She told me she was happy for me, but I kept rubbing it in her face even though it wasn't true because Yasuchika and I are not engaged. She started to cry and told me that she had gone over to her boyfriend's apartment to make him a special dinner, and when she got there she found him in bed with her best friend having sex. I told her it was because she didn't know how to satisfy him and that it was no wonder he strayed since she was a nobody unlike me. She also told me about the layoff and I laughed at her. I said that when she was in the gutter, I would leave her behind too because we had to help ourselves. I felt so smug and superior that I just wanted to keep rubbing it in. She was always better than me at everything and for the first time found myself surpassing her. I took joy in her suffering, but she never bragged when she was on top. She always tried to encourage me. It is my fault she was out looking for danger, and it is my fault she is lying in that bed right now." She covered her face to hide her shame but the tears did not stop.

No one knew what to say or how to react. They were all floored. How could someone take pleasure in someone else's suffering and cause so much more hurt? Even Kyoya was dumbfounded. He and his brothers had a love/hate relationship and were competitive, but they wouldn't kick someone when they were so down to begin with.

"Please Ootori-sensei, I just want the chance to make it up to her," Rie pleaded with Yuuichi.

Nodding, Yuuichi said, "You can sit with her for 10 minutes tonight. She is sleeping and will be sedated for a while. If she does wake up and is upset that you are there, I will have to ask you to leave. She has enough to deal with right now and doesn't need the added stress it seems you bring and dish out. Come with me." He couldn't find it in him to be nice to her. She was spiteful and vindictive, and he did not believe that her sister deserved that type of treatment.

Rie stood up and made her way to the door in order to follow the doctor, but that was also where Chika was standing. She couldn't face him; and when she was about to pass him, she heard him whisper, "So it was all a lie?" She wanted to cry out that she did care about him, but she knew he wouldn't believe her now because it had started out as a lie.

When the door to the family room had closed, Hunny got out of his seat and walked over to his brother pulling him into a hug, "I'm sorry Chika-Chan. I know you care a lot about her."

"I never thought, never suspected that it was fake. I thought she cared about me," Chika murmured.

"I know," Hunny whispered squeezing his brother surprised that Chika was allowing the embrace.

Haruhi walked over to the siblings and stated, "I think she did Chika. I don't think it was all a lie. I think somewhere along the way, she truly started to have feelings for you. Maybe she had them all along. I think she was with you because of who you were and what you could give her, but she also had feelings for you."

Mori placed his hand on Chika's shoulder and said, "I agree with Haruhi."

Adjusting his glasses, Kyoya thought out loud, "I don't think she was completely using you, but what she did to her sister was sadistic. You deserve better than that Yasuchika. I am only sorry that you found out this way and that you were hurt. I guess we now know what made our victim such an easy target to Yasu."

Everybody agreed. The girl had gotten involved with the wrong man, and he was able to prey on her because she was so down on herself and her life. With radar to find helpless and hurting women, Yasu zoomed in on her and scooped her up knowing he could win her over with this charisma and good looks. She never had a chance against him.

In another part of the city…

Yasu was cleaning and inspecting his new purchases, the data on the six hosts already read and set aside to be reviewed again later. He couldn't wait to test the guns, but that would not happen until the next day. Today things were too hot and the chance to be captured was too high. He blamed Masami. If she hadn't been so clingy, he would have been able to get away without hurting her. It was her fault that she thought he could actually have feelings for her. She wasn't Haruhi and she would never measure up. She was a poor substitute, but still… she did have her uses.

Loading one of the guns, he took aim at the mirror and pretended that it was one of those host boys and pretended to fire. The shot went into his head, right between the eyes, a perfect kill. It was what was going to happen to each one of those boys. They had to be taught a lesson. Oh he would tell Haruhi he would stop because she had finally come back to him, but he would make sure that they never bothered her or took her away from him again.