"We need to go to the hospital," my sister mentioned casually once we were in the limo heading home.

"Why?"

"We both know why Kyoya and Tamaki were fighting. I want to try to save their friendship. It sounds like Tamaki is the only real friend Kyoya has."

"I don't follow. Why were they fighting?"

"Kyoya said he was supposed to be meeting Tamaki at the café yesterday. We gave Tamaki our number because he said he needed it for club notifications. Tamaki set Kyoya and I up."

"But because of the manipulation...you were angry. Kyoya is interested in you, and he might think Tamaki ruined his chances with you. You want to see Kyoya and clarify things."

"Yeah. Oh, and there's also this," she added like an afterthought, showing me a gash in her palm.

"Oh my god, Zakia! Why didn't you say anything when that happened? You insisted on taking over for Haruhi so she wouldn't hurt herself, and now look what happened!"

"It's not that bad."

The limo came to a strange halt. We couldn't possibly be home yet.

Someone knocked on the window. When Zakia cracked it open, a man in a black uniform was there.

"The third young master of the Ootori family requests that the Notoski twins board our vehicle and be taken to one of our hospitals," the man stated.

Zakia smirked as she rolled the window back up and opened the door. I had no choice but to scramble after her as she got out.

"Ladies, what about your mother? She expects me to deliver you home in fifteen minutes!" the driver called after us as we climbed into a luxury SUV.

"You can tell her we jumped out of the car at a stop. We'll be back this evening, just late. I have to go to the hospital," Zakia replied.

The uniformed man that had gotten out of the SUV to speak with us closed our door for us, returned to the passenger seat, and the SUV smoothly sped off for a hospital.

"Did you know this would happen?" I questioned Zakia, having seen that smirk before.

"Kaoru was bound to check on me sometime this evening. He doesn't know Kyoya is in possession of our phone. I didn't realize Kyoya wouldn't come personally or that he would have his men go so far as to stop our limo before we ever got home, but I knew he would take action. Just checking every random hospital in the city would take hours. This takes out the guess work."

"How did you know he'd check our messages? You really ought to start telling me about your schemes ahead of time. Did you hurt yourself on purpose?"

"Of course not. That really was a coincidence."

I sighed, digging around our backpack for something Zakia could at least temporarily wrap her hand in.

The passenger held a handkerchief back towards us. I gratefully took it and pressed it into Zakia's bleeding palm. She curled her fingers around it to keep pressure on the wound and staunch the bleeding. She didn't so much as wince.

"We have arrived. The third young master will not greet you until after you are cared for."

Zakia's brow furrowed at this. "How did he know I'm injured?" she wondered aloud.

I opened the door and helped Zakia out of the car. The private hospital we were at clearly existed for the rich.

"Do we just walk in?" my sister asked. We were far out of our element here.

"I think so? They should recognize our name at the desk if Kyoya requested we be brought here."

A receptionist took one glance at Zakia and I as we entered, and gestured to someone else in a hallway. I was worried security was about to remove us, but it turned out to be a nurse.

"We've been expecting you. Please come with me. Dr. Ootori will see you next."

"Dr. Ootori?" I repeated.

"Maybe one of his parents, or an older sibling?" my twin suggested.

"Are you prepared to meet his family members to check on him?"

"It's unexpected," she admitted, "but I don't want this ambiguous situation hanging between us any longer."

"What about Kaoru?"

"Do you honestly think he would accept me if he learned about my past?"

"You'll never know if you don't give him the opportunity to prove himself," I pointed out.

The nurse came back before she could respond. "Dr. Ootori will see you now."

We followed the nurse to a standard examination and basic treatment room.

"You're the girl my brother requested I personally take as a patient?" he asked disdainfully when he saw us in the male Ouran uniform.

Zakia bowed to the young man. "I am Zakia Notoski. You have my sincerest apologies for any inconvenience I may have caused."

"And what is your twin doing here?"

"She worries about me. She just wants to make sure I am well."

"Have a seat," he ordered. Zakia sat on the patient bed, while I took the small guest seat in the corner and out of the way.

"What caused the injury?" Kyoya's brother continued as he pulled away the handkerchief.

"Broken china."

"Any food or drink?"

"No, it was before club activities."

The doctor laughed. "My brother and his ridiculous friend got you two involved in that absurd group?"

"That doesn't have anything to do with my wound."

"I suppose not. It does explain why he asked me to see to you personally. The best course of action will be stitches. Five should be enough. You'll have to leave your hand open, you should minimize exposure to water for two weeks, and you should not write, eat, or otherwise use the hand until the cut closes to avoid infection."

"I'll need a note for school. It's my dominant hand."

"My receptionist will email the academy. Let's get the stitches done."

Zakia held very still while Dr. Ootori put in the sutures. She didn't flinch, grimace, cry, growl, or otherwise indicate she was in pain.

"You're one of the easiest patients I've ever had, I'll give you that much," the doctor admitted when he'd finished. "You can either come see me to have them removed, or remove them yourself in about three weeks."

Zakia nodded stiffly. I added a note to our agenda after digging it out of our bag.

"Is there anything I should be on lookout for?" I asked, knowing Zakia had a bad habit of not listening to doctors.

"Inflammation, discoloration, and pus are going to indicate possible infection. She should be taken to someone who can prescribe antibiotics in that case. If you start seeing red streaks in the skin, you need to get her to an emergency doctor."

I made note of the warnings in the margins.

"Thank you for taking care of my sister, Dr. Ootori. In the email, can you make sure not to reveal our true genders? We've really been enjoying the host club and would like to be able to continue," I pleaded.

"Have it your way. If you return to the lobby, I'm certain my brother will see you. He never listens when I tell him to stay in bed and recuperate."

"Were his injuries severe?" Zakia finally spoke up. "Is Tamaki being treated here as well?"

"I'm not at liberty to discuss either of those things. You'll have to take it up with each of them."

Zakia hopped down and dragged me along towards the lobby. If not for the way her steps faltered every so often, even I might not believe she had anything wrong. She paced in front of me impatiently while we waited for any sign of Kyoya.

"You'll wear the floor out if you keep that up," I chided.

"I can't sit still. He might really be hurt, and it's my fault."

"You didn't fight with him, nor did you force him to fight Tamaki on your behalf. These are the consequences for his own choices."

"He'd never have taken things so far if I hadn't gotten so upset about those stupid texts."

"Zakia, you can't shoulder the blame for everything bad that happens to people you know."

"It's always my fault. Mom leaving us, every time we had to switch foster families, your lack of a social life, and now someone I don't know well is injured and fighting with his best friend because of me. I am to blame."

"Zakia-"

"Please, allow me," Kyoya cut me off.

Zakia stopped pacing, her head snapping up to meet Kyoya's eyes.

"Kyo-"

All he had to do was hold up his hand, and my normally brash twin fell silent.

"First things first, this belongs to the both of you. I'm sorry I didn't return it sooner."

Kyoya held out our cellphone. Zakia didn't move to take it as tears were pricking her eyes. I accepted the device instead.

"I must also apologize for invading your privacy. I read and replied to a couple messages with Kaoru. That is how I knew you had been injured, Zakia. Was my brother able to assist you? Was he kind?"

"It's just a cut on my hand. Any doctor could have stitched it. But what abo-"

She stopped short again when Kyoya raised his hand. He fluttered his fingers and Zakia reluctantly held out her left palm for his inspection.

I was starting to see what Hikaru had already noticed between my sister and Kyoya Ootori. Just like in all the stories I'd read, an undeniable, irresistible chemistry between two people. As long as no one else got in the way or caused misunderstandings and problems between the two, they'd get a happily ever after just like in my books. My sister deserved every bit of a love like that. Someone that was as strong as her and would fight as hard as her. Someone that matched her better than I ever could.

I wondered how long it would take Zakia to accept Kyoya's simple affection. He hadn't done anything overt, but he seemed to carefully consider my sister in everything since we'd stumbled into the host club. I was willing to bet he'd given her the burn cream and the shampoo and conditioner to repair her scalp that first day. He had agreed to every request without negotiations so long as we joined the host club. He had maintained his composure when Zakia accused him of trying to kidnap her yesterday. Now he seemed more concerned for her well being than his own.

The guy still had a weird aura, but I was willing to look past it if Zakia began to admire him in return.