A/N: Hi guys! This chapter was hard for me to write, emotionally draining. If I've done it right, you'll need some tissues ;). Special thanks go to mandy618, Stormglass, DragonsBleedToHeal666, HologramHoney, Darkelfangel13, Tari Luinwe, xxyangxx2006, iheartshika31, LoveBetray, and MsWolfGirl for following and faving.
BizzyLizy: Well, I love hearing it every time ;).
Omnomnom: I love him too! And you present some good points, and I should've explained myself better, I'm sorry for any confusion. In the last chapter, she is referred as selfish and cowardly because that is what she thinks of herself. She easily forgets the brave and good things she has done and easily remembers the cowardly and bad feelings she has (which I believe many people do, including myself). As for her father and stepmother letting her go so easily, they did it because they believed that they had no more right to try and stop her once she was disowned. In their minds, disowning her is the same as saying that she is no longer their child. And they are no longer her parents. And so, since they aren't her parents, they have no right to force her to do something she doesn't want to do. In a legal sense, they are still her parents and do have that authority over her, but not in a personal sense. I hope that makes sense. Sorry for rambling.
GoldenLombaxGirl: I THINK you might be right. :)
YuYuHakushoObsesser: Here it is! Feel free to tell me what you think!
Darkelfangel13: Thank you! And you are completely correct. It was very rushed because I did just want to get it out to you guys. I will eventually go back and smooth it out, though.
xxyangxx2006: Thank you thank you thank you! That means so much to me! As for who she would've been arranged to be married to...just between you and me...*looks around* *motions for you to come closer* *whispers* Takashi Morinozuka. Mwhahahaha!
Elvea Theb: Thank you so much! I'll let you in on a little secret, fluff is coming for Mori and Rena, don't you worry. Much fluff. Will they kiss? Maybe. Maybe not. We'll just have to see ;)
"Oh! I understand now! You're so smart, Haruhi." Lorena smiled at her friend from across the table.
Ever since Lorena had been advanced to the next year, she'd been having trouble understanding the math. Haruhi had been helping her everyday since then, tutoring her from when the clib ended, to dinner time. And now it had all paid off.
"Good, then you can do the rest of the problems on your own."
"Okay, but you'll check them once I'm done, right?"
Haruhi laughed, "Of course."
The next few minutes were silent, except for the scratch of pencil on paper and the clink of teacups.
Unnoticed by Lorena, Haruhi would occasionally glance up at her, pondering on whether or not she should voice her thoughts.
Eventually, curiosity won out and Haruhi just couldn't keep it to herself anymore, "There's something else."
"Something else to what?" Lorena questioned, not even looking up from her paper.
"Your story. I know it was hard for you to even give me the rough summary that you did, but I can't shake the feeling that you left something out. Something important." Lorena slowly looked up at her, saying nothing, hiding her surprise that Haruhi could be that perceptive. "Please tell me." She took a hold if her hand, looking her straight in the eye. "You can't keep this kind of stuff to yourself. It will tear you apart."
She took a deep breath, "You're right." And so, she began her story.
"Alright girls, I just need to grab something in this store, you two can go ahead. You have your phones, right?"
"Yeah, we got 'em, Theresa."
Theresa smiled at them, "Alright, go have fun you two. We'll meet up in the foodcourt for some soft pretzels, sound good?"
"Yes!" They cheered.
"Okay, be safe."
They went their separate ways.
"Jenna, do you think we'll find anything good?"
"We can hope. I want to see if I can find some new paints, I'm running out of red." She smiled at her twin, taking hold of her hand as they walked into the store. "How long do you think we have?"
"The foodcourt is right there, so if we take too long, Theresa can come in and wait for us." Lorena smirked at her, "So we have all the time in the world."
They looked through racks of clothes and found nothing. Getting towards the back of the store, they came upon the jewelry section. Jenna picked something up, "Look at this necklace." She showed it to her sister, "It's angel wings." She thought for a second, "I'm gonna get it, do you want one?"
Lorena shook her head, "Nah, not really my thing. But it'll look good on you."
Their browsing was cut short, "Lorena, Jenna, where are you?"
"Here!" They chorused, flagging their stepmother down.
"Ready to go?"
"Yep. Let's go check out, LoLo." Jenna once again took her twin's hand and led her to the cashier.
While Jenna was babbling about art as they were waiting in line, Lorena's gaze shifted to the foodcourt. Looking out the glass, she watched people mill about, talk to each other, eat their food, run away screaming. Wait a minute...
Panicking, Lorena gripped her sister's arm, pulling her towards her, but she could do no more than that before shots rang out and screams intensified and glass broke.
Almost as if in slow motion, Lorena stood there as glass sprayed towards her, and she felt an incredible pain in her ribs. At the same time, Jenna slumped in her arms.
When they hit the ground, the only thing Lorena could see was blood. Jenna's blood. Everywhere.
Finally realizing what she was looking at, she saw that she had been shot in the chest twice.
In that moment, her own injury was meaningless. Inconsequential. The only thing of concern was Jenna.
Pulling herself up, she pressed down hard on Jenna's chest, trying to stop the bleeding. "It's okay. You're gonna be okay. You're strong. You always have been. This is nothing. You got this." Lorena wasn't sure if she was whispering, screaming, or anything inbetween. Everything was a blur, the only thing that existed was red. The color red, and the sickening heat that it brought.
Her attention was snapped when she felt a soft hand on her wrist, looking up at her twin, she felt the tears finally fall. Jenna gasped for breath, coughing up blood when she did, "I'm sorry...LoLo... I can't... I am strong... No more."
"Don't you say that." Lorena sobbed.
Tears poured from Jenna's eyes, "LoLo... I'm scared." She took one last shuddering gasp, before she went limp, her eyes glazing over, and her breath left her.
"No..." The breathy whisper slipped past her lips, "No... No no no..." She repeated this word until it no longer sounded like a word anymore, cradling her twin's body. Out of the cormer of her eye, she faintly registered Theresa laying on the ground, staring with wide eyes at them. She seemed to be unharmed physically.
Next thing she knew, she was flat on her back, in even more pain than she was before. She could feel blood pouring out of a wound that seemed to cross her whole torso, how this happened she wasn't sure, just that it made the black in her vision advance rapidly.
With the last remnants of her energy, she gripped Jenna's hand, and closed her eyes. Her injuries overcame her, and she died, happy that she wouldn't have to live one more minute without her other half.
Pain. And light. And voices. These were the first things Lorena experienced as she was ripped back into the land of the living.
"Her vitals are stabilizing, and she's conscious. What about the other one?" The paramedic over her looked to her partner. He shook his head. "Damn it." She began putting her defibrillator up.
Lorena managed to move her head so she could look at Jenna. Someone had closed her eyes, making her look like she was just sleeping peacefully. Their hands had been separated.
She turned her head to face the paramedic who was talking to her, she interrupted her, "Kill me." Her voice was raspy, as tears streamed out of her eyes. The paramedic's face fell, shock taking over. "Please."
Then, to her suprise, tears fell from the paramedic's eyes. "I'm sorry we couldn't bring her back too." The paramedic looked at Jenna, then back to Lorena. "She's your twin." She realized.
They stared at each other for a beat before two other paramedics came running up with a stretcher. Time stretched on and on as Lorena was moved onto the stretcher and moved away. Her eyes never leaving Jenna's form, which was being covered by a white sheet.
The only things that was running through her head were memories.
She remembered how when Jenna would laugh so hard she would snort, and then get so embarrassed that she would hide her face in her hands.
She remembered the first time Jenna tried to bake cupcakes. The first batch were burned to black ashes because she had fallen asleep while waiting. The second batch were raw in the middle because she was afraid of the same thing happening again.
She remembered Jenna trying to teach her how to paint, ending in a paint war between the two of them, and them accidentally getting their dad in the face with a glob of orange paint. He just laughed and joined them.
She remembered the little puppy they adopted together. They named him Creature. He had been rescued from a dog fighting ring.
She remembered crying with her in their room when their grandmother died. Comforting each other with ice cream and video games.
She remembered so many things, and yet it wasn't enough. She didn't care if it was selfish. She wanted her back. She wanted the real thing.
She was so absorbed in her memories that she didn't notice the paramedic woman from before pushing something into her hand. A necklace. Two angel wings on a chain dangling from her fist.
Riiing!
Lorena stood from her desk with her phone in one hand, and her bag in the other. The school day had just ended, and the Host Club would be starting in half an hour.
As soon as she left her classroom with Kyoya and Tamaki, her arm was grabbed by two little hands. A new set of footsteps also joined them, That could only be Takashi.
"Rena-chan~!" Honey smiled up at her as he dragged her to the club room. "We get to dress up for our theme today! Doesn't that sound like fun?"
Paying more attention to the buzzing phone in her hand than him, she hummed absentmindedly in response.
Annoyed, Honey stopped suddenly, almost making her trip over him. "I'm tired. Can you carry me?"
"Sure." She didn't look from her phone as she picked him up.
"Who are you texting?" He moved so he could see the screen of her phone.
"My friend, Mizuno Kenzo. He wants me to have dinner with him tonight."
"Like a date?" Honey asked her seemingly innocently.
She laughed loudly at the thought, "God, no. He's a good friend. He just needs me to translate for him for his extended family and business partners at this party they're hosting." Before he could ask, she answered, "He's mute. We both speak American Sign Language."
Lorena went around the room with a heavy tray in her hands, refilling people's cups of tea. This was only made harder by the fancy-though incredibly comfortable-kimono she was wearing, that reached down to her ankles.
It all had to do with the theme they had that day. A late Edo era cosplay, as specific characters in a story. Or was it history? To be honest, it all pretty much went over her head, but she got to dress up, so it was fine.
Having made her way around the whole room, the tray was now much lighter, and everyone had a full cup of tea.
Setting the tray down, she noticed that not everyone had a mug of tea. Pouring two cups, she stroleld over to Takashi, who was just sitting peacefully on a bench to the side as some girls drooled over him.
"Tea?" She held the mug in front of his face. He accepted it with a small smile. Sitting next to him on the bench, she sipped her own tea as well. "What's with the spear?"
Before he could answer, he suddenly stood up and stabbed the wall, shocking everyone.
"Mori-senpai!"
"Why the sudden lunge?!"
"Are you not getting enough attention?!"
"Please calm down, Mori-senpai! I know you're upset that you only have one line an episode! We're three-fourths through the season and you haven't had your own episode, is that it?! I'M SORRY!"
"What are you talking about, Tamaki?" Lorena squinted at him as she set down both Takashi's and her tea cups.
"No." He pulled the spear out of the sliding door. He opened the door, revealing a mean-looking red-head on the floor. "We have a trespasser."
The red-head suddenly jumped up and rushed at Takashi, "TAKASHI MORINOZUKA!"
"A surprise attack?!"
He threw himself to the ground, "Senpai! Please, take me on as your apprentice."
Takashi looked surprised. Well, as much as Takashi could, anyways. Slowly, Lorena took the spear away from him, "I'm just gonna hide this somewhere safe before you decide to stab any more walls."
"Ritsu Kasanoda. First year, class D. Heir to the third-generation head of the Kasanoda Syndicate, the most powerful gang in the Kanto area. He was admitted this year into Ouran Academy's high school. He has long red hair, a mean looking appearance, is reserved and has few friends. It is said if your eyes meet his you'll have bad dreams for three months; if you bump into him you'll end up in the hospital; and talking back to him sends you to an early grave. He is so feared by his classmates that they call him 'The Walking Blizzard'."
"Well, that's just ridiculous." Lorena set a cup of tea in front of Kasanoda before going back to sit at the table with Honey and Takashi to eat some cake.
Tamaki ignored her comment, "Seriously? But why would a human weapon like yourself want to be Mori-senpai's apprentice?"
Kasanoda sighed, "Well, because, look I may be tough, but I'm not a human weapon." Tamaki nodded at him. "I was just born with a face that makes me look mean all the time."
"Well, at least you're aware of it, Casanova." The twins chorused.
"It's Kasanoda."
"Bossa Nova?"
"I SAID IT WAS KASANODA, DO YOU WANNA DIE?!"
"Man, he really is mean looking..." The idiot trio mumbled from behind the couch.
"Uh, sorry about that. This always happens because of the way I look. I've always had this mean look. Ever since I was born. Even when I was just a tyke my dad would say, 'Just you wait, my son's gonna be the greatest gangster of all time.'"
Lorena found it amusing to imagine a baby Kasanoda crawling around, and dozens of servants around him chanting, "Young Lord, you gonna rumble?!"
"And so, ever since I was a kid, I've been taught how to be the godfather of a gang." He sighed again, "My pops was a good teacher, he made me a true gangster. That's great and all, but everyone's afraid to come near me. Even my fellas are scared of me. So, I'm all alone. It's like, they forget I'm young, and sometimes I just wanna play. I wanna get out with my fellas and play a game of Kick-the-Can."
"A good game of Kick-the-Can is awesome." Tamaki mused.
"But I've been living the life of a gangster, and I don't know how to interact with regular people."
"Aww, that poor guy..." Honey looked sad for him.
"Morinozuka-senpai, that's why I need you to show me. How do you manage to have so many friends?" Takashi turned his head slightly so he could see Kasanoda. "When you're just as mean looking as me?" Lorena nealry choked on her tea when she saw the shock on Takashi's face. "You're expressionless, distant, and you hardly ever talk. Plus, you've got a mug that looks like a watchdog from Hell. So, how come you got so many friends? What're you doin' that I'm not? PLEASE, TEACH ME YOUR SECRETS! I'M BEGGING YOU!" Lorena couldn't handle it, she had to turn all the way around in her chair to not laugh at Takashi.
Once again he threw himself to the ground. Meanwhile, Takashi looked dead inside.
"Hey Takashi, are you okay?" Honey asked him worriedly.
"I'm just a little light-headed."
"What now boss? Don't you think we should do something about this?"
"Just leave him alone. Don't get involved. Like he said, he wants to be Mori-senpai's apprentice. So that means, Mori-senpai decides what to do. This isn't something that any of us should interfere with."
"Tamaki." Lorena looked over her shoulder to see what he would say next. Except he didn't say anything. Not verbally anyway. However, his face said "Kill me now." Or maybe it was "Help"? Close enough.
"Well, in that case, since you insist, Mori-senpai. I, Tamaki Suoh, promise you I will do whatever I can to assist you." He sparkled with pride and his usual flamboyance.
"Yeah right, he wanted to get involved so badly he couldn't bear it." Haruhi muttered.
"Now lift your head Bossa Nova."
"Listen, it's Kasanoda."
"From now on, you may address me as 'King'. Okay, Bossa Nova?"
"That's not my name."
"Are you listening to me Bossa Nova?!"
"Yes!"
"There are many differences between you and our beloved Mori-senpai, but there is also one very definitive thing you are lacking. And that is, a lovely item."
"A lovely...item?"
"Bossa Nova, I would like to introduce you to a lovely item named Mitsukuni. Sure, Mori-senpai may seem kind of mean-looking, and he may seem kind of distant when you first meet him. But what if you put Mitsukuni on his shoulders? Suddenly it's like he's a forest teddy bear that all the animals adore! In addition, this lovely item also plays up Mori-senpai's strong and silent character. Even without saying anything, just by placing Honey-senpai next to him, people begin to have a new-found admiration for Mori-senpai. Suddenly he's seen in a positive light as a nice, quiet young gentleman. That's the plan!I'm not exaggerating when I say that most of Mori-senpai's charm is directly related to his friend Honey-senpai!"
"Yeah! You're right!" The twins agreed.
"Now that you mention it, Mori-senpai..."
"Doesn't really do anything."
"Yeah, his positions totally a bust." Kaoru drove the last nail in.
Takashi looked so betrayed. Honey looked to Lorena and winked at her before turning on the crocodile tears, "Takashi... Have you really been using me this entire time?" He stood up alarmed, shaking his head.
Tamaki continued talking to Kasanoda, "I'm sorry, but Honey-senpai is on a long-term lease to Mori-senpai right now, so I can't let you borrow him."
"Is Tama-chan telling the truth?! ARE YOU RENTING ME?!" Takashi's jaw dropped and he shook his head wildly, nearly giving himself whiplash.
"Don't worry, I'll come up with something to take his place. So the next thing we need to discuss, is your disturbing yankee fashion sense." He snapped, getting the twins's attention, "Now Hitachiin brothers-"
"Sir!"
"It's your job to make this man more fashionable."
"Roger!" They launched themselves at poor Kasanoda and dragged him off to the dressing room.
Deciding that that was enough teasing for the gentle giant, Lorena patted Takashi's head comfortingly. "There, there. Don't listen to those meanies. They're just teasing you."
A few minutes later, when the twins came out with Kasanoda, it was Lorena's turn to look dead inside. And it was Takashi's turn to pat her head comfortingly.
"Kasanoda?" Lorena came up beside him as he was walking back home.
"Uhh, yes?"
"Do you mind if I walk with you? My house happens to be this way as well."
"O-of course." His blushing face could not be hidden by the silly green and yellow scarf he was wearing.
"I'm Lorena Boone, by the way. I just realized we hadn't been properly introduced." She shook his hand.
"It's nice to meet you, Boone."
"Please, call me Lorena."
"Okay." He was quiet, and shy, but Lorena just couldn't let him walk around looking so silly any longer.
"I'm sorry, Kasanoda. I just can't take you seriously dressed like that. The twins like to mess around with everyone." He blushed in embarrassment even more. "Here, let me fix your hair." She made him stop walking as she undid his dreadlocks, and he took off the scarf, sunglasses, and band-aid. "I'll take the bear, I can return it to Tamaki in class tomorrow." She tucked it under her arm that she was carrying her bag with.
He smiled at her appreciatively and they comtinued walking. The rest of the time, they walked in silence. She didn't want to push him into a conversation as he would feel uncomfortable, and he definitely didn't mind the silence.
They reached the Kasanoda Syndicate first. "Uhm... Thanks for...you know..."
"No problem." She laughed. "Thanks for letting me walk with you."
"Let me, uh, walk you home."
"No, it's fine, I live just a few more blocks away anyways. But thank you." He nodded. "See you at school tomorrow." She waved goodbye and kept walking, politely waving at another young man with long brown hair who was holding a broom.
When she had turned the corner, Kasanoda entered his estate, trying to ignore Tetsuya's burning stare. After all, he had never walked home with a girl before. Especially a girl who wasn't afraid of him.
"Huh? Somebody's out to get Mori-senpai?"
"No doubt about it. I was there, I saw everything. He's obviously gotten on somebody's bad side!" Kasanoda explained to them.
Lorena turned around from her perch on the arm of the couch, "Starting fights again, Takashi? We talked about this, only two fights a month." She teased. Takashi just rolled his eyes at her.
"Nah, that's impossible-" Hikaru started.
"There's no way Mori-senpai would ever be on someone's bad side." Kaoru finished as Tamaki nodded his head in agreement.
"How can you be so sure? You don't know that."
"Don't you worry your pretty little head about that. Operation 'Bossa Nova's Total Image Makeover' is in full effect as of right now!"
"Yes, sir!"
"Hold on! What the hell're you talking about? What do you mean you're startin right now?! You tryna pretend that yesterday never happened? Thanks to yesterday's 'makeover' people were even more afraid of me than they usually are."
Tamaki explained calmly, "Hold on a second, let me explain, Bossa Nova. We all support you, and we're behind you 100%. Yesterday, the twins were just getting a little carried away. I hope you'll forgive them."
Kasanoda was touched, "I'm sorry. I will follow your lead from here on out."
Everyone except Haruhi and Kasanoda moved over to the whiteboard to discuss the plan and possible solutions.
A minute or so later, they had come up with something. "Bossa Nova!" Tamaki called to him.
"Yes?"
"I think we've finally come up with something that'll change your tough guy image." Lorena had a bad feeling about this.
Everyone's face was blank as they stared at Kasanoda. Black kitty ears resting on his head.
"A cat monster." Honey finally voiced.
"Well that didn't work. I don't know what went wrong, Renge said that kitty ears were all the rage. She said that they were a perfect lovely item. What could've happened?"
Kyoya was fed up with him, "Be realistic, putting kitty ears on him isn't going to affect how people percieve him. He still looks mean."
"Yeah," the twins said simultaneously, "If you're going to take it that far... You might as well go all the way and make him a kitty-eared maid!"
"Are you guys makin fun of me?"
"Sorry to bother you, but is the Young Lord Kasanoda in here?" Tetsuya walked in only to see Kasanoda dressed as a kitty-eared maid.
"AAHHH!" He yelled, grabbing the front of his jacket.
"Sir, it's no big deal, you can do whatever you want in your spare time..."
"WHAT, DO YOU THINK THIS IS A HOBBY OF MINE?! DAMMIT, I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE!" He ran out, Tetsuya running after him.
Haruhi picked up the cat ears he had thrown on the ground, "Maybe an image change isn't really what Casanova needs..."
"I think you're right." Honey kneeled down next to her. "I sure hope he realizes it soon."
Lorena hid behind a tree as she watched Haruhi and Kasanoda talk. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but it was obvious that Kasanoda was developing a crush on Haruhi.
"Look out!" Honey jumped up out of nowhere and kicked the flying paint can. Unfortunately, this made the lod pop off and a bunch of red paint to hit Haruhi.
"AHH! HARUHI, WHAT HAPPENED?! THAT'S NOT BLOOD, IS IT?!" Tamaki freaked out.
"Would you calm down," she stood up, "it's just a little paint."
"Hey, are you sure you're alright, Fujioka?" Kasanoda also stood up.
Lorena came out from her hidind spot to check on her friend. Indeed it was judt paint, most of it was on her jacket, though some got on her shirt and tie as well.
"Let go of me you bastard!" An unfamiliar voice yelled out.
Another joined it, "Dammit, you big behemoth!"
"You're playin' dirty, Kasanoda! First you go and kidnap our gang boss's kid, and then you go and make us deal with your muscle-bound lackies?! We know that you kidnapped the kid! Just give him back!"
The twins popped up with rope, "We've heard enough out of you. We'll shut you up!" They began tying the two strangers tightly with the rope.
"What the hell is going on here?" Poor Kasanoda looked so lost.
Honey was the one to explain, "Don't you get it? Takashi wasn't on anyone's bad side, these guys were after you. Until we caught them, we decided not to say anything to you, because we didn't want you to have to mess with them."
Shocked, Kasanoda approached Honey and Takashi. "I can't believe it. So you helped me? But how come?"
Takashi patted Kasanoda's head, "We can tell who the bad guys are by lookin' at 'em."
"I should probably go back and change clothes." Haruhi said to herself.
"Want us to come and help you?"
"Drop dead."
"I'll come, though. I know a trick to get stains out. But it only works if you do it fast enough." They walked back together, passing an angry looking Tetsuya as they did.
Lorena stood at the running sink with Haruhi's jacket, shirt, and tie, trying to get the paint out. When she was finished, she hung them up to dry and went back into the room that Haruhi was in.
However, when she walked in, she immediately froze.
Kasanoda, red-faced and shocked, stood there frozen. "M-MA!" He yelled, before hurriedly leaving and slamming the door closed.
"Oh Lord..." Lorena face-palmed. This wouldn't be good.
A/N: Soooo? Opinions? Questions? Constructive criticism? Death threats? Uhh, scratch that last one. I eagerly await your responses.
IMPORTANT: As of right now, I am putting this fic under construction. This basically means that I will be editing the first dozen (give or take) chapters, general improvements really, no major changes. I'm not sure if you guys will get alerts for chapter re-uploads, if someone knows please tell me. This may also mean that I will have more outfits on my Polyvore for Lorena (I don't know if a lot of you even bother to look at those but whatever). Now that I've figured it out, the whole thing should be much easier for both me, and you guys.
IMPORTANT #2 (not related to the first one): Are you guys gonna want an epilogue after the end of the last episode? It would be some undefined number of years in the future about (SPOILER ALERT) Mori and Lorena's married life.
That's all. See you guys next chapter!