A/N: Just a quick warning that there's some light (and very brief) bullying which includes body shaming.


Emi POV

I sighed as I walked down the pink halls of Ouran, and checked my phone for the thousandth time this morning.

When I had gotten home from Honey's on the weekend I had texted Aiki to check that she had gotten home alright, also hoping to be able to open up a conversation about her leaving me alone at the club. While Aiki had answered my initial message, my follow-up text asking if we could meet up or have a call had gone unanswered. It had now been three days and it was really messing with my anxiety and my mood. My stomach was in knots, I had very little appetite, and my chest felt heavy.

She clearly wants nothing to do with you. This was the recurring thought I'd been having for the past couple of days and it just kept popping up no matter how I tried to refute it.

Or she's super busy!

Another, much smaller and quieter part of my mind kept asking, Why do you even care this much when she didn't treat you that well?

That part of my mind had a valid point. I knew if it had been Avery in my position I probably would have told her not to go out with the person again. But I couldn't help but to worry that maybe I had been so boring that she had to leave to be with her friends, or that maybe I was exaggerating, or maybe her behaviour was normal, or, worse yet, what if I couldn't do better and I would always be the one who cared more?

Just then, I felt two sets of hands grab onto me, two devilish cackles clueing me in as to who had captured me.

"Target acquired!" the twins exclaimed in unison, and dragged me away before I could so much as utter a peep.

Before I knew it I found myself seated in a limo, surrounded by the hosts.

I blinked, "Uh, hi… Wh- Did you all just kidnap me?"

Haruhi's face shifted from grumpy to apologetic as she turned to look at me, "Yeah, sorry about them, I've tried to tell them they can't just snatch people up like that but…," she shrugged helplessly.

Tamaki immediately began a tirade about the importance of family time, alternating between waxing poetic and whining at Haruhi's insensitivity.

Suddenly, I found myself with a lap full of Honey, his cheek pressed against the top of my head and my face smothered in his chest. I blushed as I patted him on the back awkwardly, remembering the last time he had been on my lap in a limo.

Don't think about that now, not unless you plan on looking like a flaming tomato!

"Emi-chan! We missed you! You're not upset we kidnapped you, are you?" he asked, pulling back to look down at me with big chocolate eyes.

I looked up at him nervously, my eyes darting to Mori briefly, "Er.. Is this a test? Because last time I got in a limo with you, you said I should be more careful…"

He giggled, "Hmm, nope! This is okay." He leaned in and whispered, "After all, you have an angel here with you!"

I sputtered as he leaned back and winked, eyes sparkling with mischief.

I'm never going to hear the end of that, am I?

"A-anyway, um, where are we going then?" I asked as Honey got off my lap and sat next to me.

"Oh, you'll find out soon enough," Kyoya answered without looking up from his laptop.

"Alright… Oh! Kyoya, thank you for the clothes the other night," I said, fiddling with the hem of my shorts.

"It was no trouble, we couldn't very well leave you with no clothes," he smirked, looking up just long enough for his glasses to glint at me.

Jeez, what is this, tease Emi day?

"R-right…" I trailed off, not sure how to respond to such a statement.

The rest of the car ride passed peacefully. Hikaru and Kaoru seemed to be playing video games on their phones, Kyoya continued to type away on his laptop, Tamaki was excitedly pointing out anything he found of interest to Haruhi, Mori was reading a book, and Honey seemed to be snoozing against my shoulder. The peaceful atmosphere soon had me dozing off myself. I had always been a sucker for sunny car rides.

When I awoke, I… seemed to have gone blind, the world was moving around me, and I could hear a heartbeat under my ear.

"…What- I can't see shit. What's happening?" I wondered aloud, considering the possibility that I might still be dreaming.

"Emi, a sweet lady like yourself should never swear!" I heard Tamaki wail from somewhere up ahead.

"Uh, no offense Tamaki but… that's really fucking old fashioned," I stated bluntly, raising my hand to remove whatever was blocking my vision. I heard him screech and then a thud, followed by a dragging sound.

Did I… just make Tamaki faint?

"Don't touch that Emi-chan! You're wearing a blindfold so the surprise isn't ruined," I heard Honey explain next to my ear. Judging from how close his voice was, and the sweet smell I now noticed, he was the one carrying me.

I sighed, lowering my hands to rest on my stomach again.

Thankfully, a few moments later we stopped moving and I felt Honey gently set me on my feet, letting me hold on to his arm to steady myself. Finally, the blindfold was removed and I was left to squint against the sun. When the dancing sunspots faded away, I gasped.

I was standing in front of a magnificent view of a white-sand beach. Blue waves were rolling in and crashing on the shore and the sun glinted off the water as if it was a precious gem.

I breathed in the salty air, feeling almost immediately at peace. The worries and stresses of the week disappeared as I listened to the waves and the cries of the circling gulls.

"Wow," I whispered, turning to the host club who all seemed to be staring at me in anticipation of my reaction, "Guys, this is amazing! Thank you so much for bringing me!"

"Well, you seemed a bit stressed lately, and Kyoya said you used to live by the ocean," Haruhi explained, shrugging casually.

"Anyway, it was about time for a club outing and the ocean is popular with the guests," Kyoya hastened to explain.

I giggled quietly, God forbid someone should think he actually cares!

"Well, thank you, this is really great!" I said, bouncing a bit in my excitement.

"Oh yeah, and don't worry about a swimsuit," the twins chimed in from where they stood leaning up against each other, "We brought a bunch from our new swimsuit collection."

Oh boy, knowing them those bathing suits won't even cover me properly.

"Uh… great… I think," I answered hesitantly, now less enthused about this beach outing. I wasn't the most comfortable in bathing suits at the best of times, but now, surrounded by a bunch of guys, and one woman, who were all model-worthy… Yeah, I wasn't too excited by the prospect of showing that much skin.

Apparently having gotten as much confirmation as they needed, the twins grabbed me once again and pulled me down the steps to a changing room that was located on the beach. Once inside the shack, I was accosted by twin maids whose eyes flashed evilly.

As I feared, many of the bathing suits could hardly even be considered real bathing suits. If anything, they fit more under the category of lingerie. Something I would NOT be wearing in front of my new friends. Finally, after several minutes of politely refusing bathing suit after bathing suit, the maids selected one that actually seemed like it would cover the important bits.

Trying it on, I was pleased to find that the pearl-blue string bikini top contrasted nicely with my dark skin tone, and made my sternum tattoo stand out. The red high-waisted full-coverage bikini bottoms ended up looking a little cheekier than I had hoped, but with the size of my butt I wasn't that surprised. A regular bikini bottom probably would have looked more like a thong on me.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find any sort of coverup to go over top so I took a deep breath and grudgingly stepped out of the shack.

"Ouu, great choice!" Kaoru said, eyeing me up and down.

"Yeah, though we were kinda hoping you'd choose one that showed off more of your… ASSets," Hikaru smirked, pointedly looking downwards.

I felt my face heat up. "Ha-ha, very original. I'm pretty sure this bathing suit shows plenty already!" I hissed sarcastically.

"Well, we do get to see your other tattoos now!" they exclaimed together, amber eyes now peering more closely at the tattoos they hadn't seen before – the waves on my right hip, and the floral sternum tattoo I had embarrassingly shown Honey the other day.

Thankfully, before any of the other hosts decided to come along to approve my bathing suit, Kyoya called them to order and sent them off to prepare for the guests to arrive. I was given a free pass to do whatever I wanted, so I chose to set up a towel and read for a bit.

I hummed as I laid out in the sun, ready for a relaxing day.

This is perfect. Exactly what I needed.

I sighed contentedly as I felt the sun rays soak into my skin. After reading for a while I had put my book aside and reapplied my sunscreen. Now I simply laid on my towel and listened to the waves, occasionally interrupted by a squealing guest.

"Ugh, if I had her body I'd never be caught dead wearing a bathing suit," I heard a snobby voice declare in disgust.

I stiffened imperceptibly, hoping beyond hope that these weren't the girls I had heard in the halls the other time.

"Right? I feel so bad that Honey-senpai and the other hosts have to see that!" Another voice pitched in.

So it's either the same girls or more of Honey's crazy fans…

I casually stretched and stood, trying not to appear as though I was fleeing. Even if that was what I was doing. I just couldn't stay there anymore as they scrutinized and disparaged my body, even if they didn't realize I could hear them.

I slowly strolled towards the ocean, feeling sick. At least in the ocean, they couldn't see my body. Anyway, I had wanted to go swimming, and there was nothing more soothing than gently rocking in the salt water.


Honey POV

I giggled, waving goodbye to the guests as they moved on to their next host appointments, glad that Kyo-chan had scheduled some breaks for us so we could fully enjoy the beach day.

I peered around, seeing Tama-chan in the middle of one of his princely acts and the twins putting on one of their brotherly love acts next to a sand castle. Haru-chan was walking along the beach with some guests, and Kyo-chan was charmingly trying to sell photos of us. I frowned, not seeing Emi-chan on the beach where she had been earlier.

"Over there," Takashi said lowly, pointing out at the waves.

Sure enough, I could just make out her dark hair drifting behind her as she alternated between swimming and floating.

"Emi-chan!" I called out, waving widely as I bounced toward the water.

I watched as she waved back and then began swimming closer to meet us halfway. I couldn't help but to stare as she walked towards us, water now reaching her waist. Her curls, which were usually on the shorter side, were now so weighed down with water that they reached her waist. Water ran down her dark golden skin in rivulets, drawing my gaze to her collarbone, to her sternum tattoo – which I could now fully see, and to her soft-looking stomach.

She looks like a goddess…

"Hi Honey, hi Mori" she greeted, just slightly out of breath from her swim. I tried not to notice the rise of her chest as she caught her breath.

"Hi," Takashi responded, smiling slightly.

"Hi Emi-chan! I like your swimsuit, it looks really good on you! Are you having fun?" I rushed out, hoping any staring I might have done could be explained by me looking at her swimsuit.

"Oh, uh thanks," she answered hesitantly, crossing her arms over her stomach would-be-casually. "Yeah, I'm really glad to be at the beach. I missed swimming in the ocean, and hearing the ocean, basically everything ocean-related," she laughed.

I beamed, now doubly glad we had this beach day. But I still couldn't help but notice that she didn't seem totally comfortable for some reason. The way she was holding herself made it look almost like she felt insecure in her swimsuit but… that couldn't be possible could it? Not with a body like that!

"You really like the ocean huh?" I asked cheerfully, swirling the water around me with my hands.

"Yeah! A lot!" she answered enthusiastically, looking out at the sea briefly.

"So, you shouldn't mind if I do… this!" I exclaimed, before splashing the water towards her.

She squealed then sputtered, wiping the water out of her eyes and staring at me in shock. Then she looked at Takashi as if to say 'did you just see that?' to which he nodded in mock solemnity.

The next thing I knew, all three of us were embroiled in a water fight, sending wave after wave of salt water at each other. It was impossible to tell who was winning or losing with all the chaos, but I knew I had achieved my goal because Emi-chan didn't look uncomfortable at all. Instead, she looked wild and free, laughing and smiling between battle cries.

After a while, Takashi called a time-out and insisted that we all go drink some water. He could really be a mother-goose at times.

I bounced ahead as Takashi and Emi-chan followed behind more sedately. Admittedly, I didn't fully trust myself not to stare if I was behind her.

I went straight to the large cooler Kyo-chan had brought and distributed the water, noticing that the guests seemed to be getting ready to leave.

"Looks like us hosts have the rest of the evening to ourselves!" I pointed out before taking a large gulp of my water.

I noticed that Emi-chan looked vaguely relieved and frowned slightly, wondering what was going on there. Did she not feel comfortable around the guests? Had someone been rude to her?

I glanced at Takashi and saw in his eyes that he had noticed too.

"So, what now?" Emi-chan asked, smile returning to her face, "Are we going home now?"

"Nuh uh," I replied, shaking my head, "We're gonna stay at Kyo-chan's family's beach house here!"

"Oh, cool! I didn't pack, obviously, since I was abducted, but I'm guessing Kyoya has already taken care of everything," she responded, smirking playfully.

Takashi chuckled lowly, "Yup."

Shortly after, we were all packed up and walking the path up to Kyo-chan's house, none of us bothering to change at the beach and instead waiting to get changed at the house, where there would be multiple washrooms available.

Emi-chan's eyes widened as we walked up to the house and inside and Haruhi was quick to commiserate with her. I realized that Emi-chan hadn't seen anybody else's house, except for my suite.

"Don't worry Emi-chan, I'll show you to your room so you won't get lost!" I exclaimed excitedly.

Haru-chan sweat dropped and grumbled, "It sounds obnoxious but getting lost is a real danger here."

"It's not obnoxious, it's just a fact of life," the twins shrugged, "People can get lost in houses!"

"Nobody gets lost at my place!" Haru-chan grumped, crossing her arms and tapping her foot.

"Shut up you shady twins!" Tamaki shouted, "You're offending my Haruhi!"

"Uh.. well then thank you Honey, I'll definitely take you up on that if you're sure it's not too much trouble… I actually do get lost really easily," Emi-chan stated sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck.

"Actually Honey, your room, as well as Mori's, are in the same hall as Emi's so that arrangement should work perfectly," Kyoya intoned factually, pushing his glasses up his nose.

With that, we all split up to head to our rooms. I lead the way once again grabbing Emi-chan's bag and ignoring her protests entirely. Takashi and Emi-chan trailed along behind me and soon enough we arrived in our hallway. Takashi nodded and waved before stepping into his room and closing the door behind him.

I walked towards a door a bit further down on the left and motioned for Emi-chan to follow me, "This is your room over here Emi-chan!"

I opened the door and walked over to set her bag on the stand at the foot of the bed. I turned and gulped as I saw Emi standing inside the room. Now that we weren't at a beach, and were instead standing in a bedroom, it felt a lot more intimate to be seeing so much of her skin.

Feeling a bit awkward, I zeroed in on the first innocent thing I could think of, "Hey! I can see all your tattoos at once now! They look really cute Emi-chan!"

"Oh! Thanks! And thank you for showing me my room too," she said, alternating between peering up at me through her eyelashes and looking down at the floor.

"No problem Emi-chan!" I exclaimed, before looking at her more seriously, "But, Emi-chan, if it's okay can I ask why you seemed uncomfortable today? And you seemed stressed this week too…"

She hesitated, seeming to debate internally, "Um… well you already know I'm a bit socially anxious at times…"

"Hmmm yeah, but it didn't seem like it was just that," I replied, not buying her response as being the whole truth.

She sighed, setting her towel on the bed and sitting on it, "I guess it's just a bit intimidating being around so many people who look… so different from me, like models basically. And as for the rest of the week, I guess I've been stressed waiting to hear back from Aiki… though I'm pretty sure she's ghosted me at this point."

I walked to stand in front of her, and bit my lip nervously. I wanted to make sure I said the right thing and didn't say something that would make her feel worse somehow.

"Emi-chan… I won't deny that you look different, since you were the only one with dark skin at the beach today… But you shouldn't be intimidated! If anything, the rest of the guests were probably jealous of you. And if Aiki ghosted you, well, she's just dumb!" I declared, finishing with a dramatic huff to lighten the mood.

She stared at me incredulously, "Yeah, sure, all the model-skinny girls were definitely jealous of me today." She scoffed, clearly thinking my statement was entirely ridiculous, and looked away.

I looked at her thoughtfully. Clearly my usual cutesy approach wasn't getting through to her at all. But for some reason I couldn't let it go. I really wanted her to understand. I wanted her to see what I saw, and to understand the effect she had.

I guess I'll have to be forward…

I stepped forward, gently pushing her to lay on the bed and moving to kneel over her, bracing my hands on either side of her head and looking into her surprised eyes.

"Emi, those girls were definitely jealous. Because none of them have the figure you have," I began, trailing my eyes slowly downward, "None of them have your golden skin, or curves that are perfect for holding."

I slowly brought my gaze back up to her face, stopping on her slightly parted lips and flushed cheeks, "They have their own form of beauty but… Today, when you walked out of the water, anyone could have mistaken you for some sort of real-life divinity."

I looked into her eyes, starting to feel lightheaded. I gripped the bedcovers in my hands, struggling not to touch her. To run my fingers through her hair and glide them down her neck. To slide my hand along the curve of her waist.

"Any guy, or girl, would consider themselves lucky to be in my position right now. So don't underestimate yourself," I stepped back, making a conscious effort to pull up my cutesy side, "Okay Emi-chan?"

"Uh…" she said, looking a bit dazed.

Not waiting for more of an answer, I quickly bounced toward the door, "Good! I'll see you at supper soon!"

I waved over my shoulder and closed her door behind me, not relaxing until I was in my own room. I flung myself on the bed, rolling around in embarrassment.

What was that?! Why did I do that? I mean it's true that she's extremely attractive… but why did I get carried away like that?

Part of me protested at the idea that I had gotten carried away, because really, I had wanted to do much more…

But she's your friend, a new friend! And you're not supposed to want to touch your friends like that!

I groaned, rising from the bed to slouch towards the washroom. Maybe a cold shower would clear my head.


Emi POV

I blinked up at the ceiling, still lying on the bed where Honey had left me, trying to process what had just happened.

He thinks I'm… pretty? Like a divine being?

As hard as it was to wrap my brain around that idea, that gorgeous Honey could think that I was attractive, right now I was having an even harder time wrapping my brain around the way he had gone about telling me that. The way his eyes had smoldered as he raked his gaze down my body and back up.

I felt a shiver run down my spine at the mere memory. I was flushed and, quite frankly, turned on.

Well, supper shouldn't be awkward at all…