Chapter 8

Found (out)

Miyuki's POV

It's funny how life could pass you by so quickly. One minute, you're looking forward to your first day of school; the next, you're making up excuses not to go to school. Yesterday, you're running and playing around the house, not a care in the world; today, you're cramming yourself to death just to pass the next Math exam. Two seconds ago, you're silently urging for the person who was elaborately offering you a free service at a 'Host Club' and some tea to go away; Five seconds later, you find yourself blinking rapidly, trying to find out whether you're asleep or you're trapped somewhere really dark, sitting on a chair and unable to move.

Where does the time go?

I kept looking around, squinting, trying to find even the smallest light. A crack. A faint glow. None. My body was tied to a chair- a comfortable one, I had to admit. Even though they tied me from the shoulders down (even my feet!), they were considerate enough not to tie up my lower arm, i.e. my wrists. At least I could check my watch. But, then again, it was extremely dark. So my luck was useless.

There was no one else inside the room, I assumed, since it was unusually quiet. About five seconds ago, I would've killed to have that kind of silence. But the darkness was disadvantage, though. How could I read?

Moments later, after realizing that the room that I was trapped in was pitch black and I was not asleep, I heard a few voices. It started off as whispers but eventually grew louder until they practically echoed throughout the room. The voices were coming from outside the room, I was sure of that. I heard stuff like:

"Who is that girl?!"

And,

"How did she find out?!"

And even,

"A spy! She's definitely a spy!"

100%, that's how much I wanted to go home at that moment. I didn't care whether or not I'd be rude or if I'd leave my bags, as soon as I'd get untied, I was going home no matter what.

Loud rantings went on for another half-hour, I guessed. Time seemed so slow, especially when you're trapped inside a pitch black room. Ever heard of that idiom? I narrowed my eyes at some of the (oh, how do I put it?) foolishness that I heard. Even though I wasn't quite sure what was happening, I knew I was supposed to be irritated.

Moments later, a burst of light flashed in front of me. Followed by someone declaring, "Total stranger, we, the host club, shall give you a chance!" I squinted a little at the sudden exposure to light (a similar thing happens to me every morning).

Like any other captured innocent student with absolutely no comprehension of what was going on, I muttered, "Huh?" Articulate, aren't I?

"That is IF you shall cooperate with us." A familiar, aggravating, voice said a bit hoarsely (or trying to). When my eyes finally got used to the light, I saw who had tied me up. Remember that annoying but a bit kind blonde guy who had just offered a free service at a Host Club and some tea earlier? Believe it or not, it was him. Tamaki something or other.

I blinked. 'Multiple-personality disorder'? I thought.

Without my knowing, two identical heads appeared behind me, startling me a little. It was those twins who took my bags. The ones who wanted me to guess which one was Hikaru. Really, who was Hikaru? And why must I guess who he is?

The pair locked eyes with me. Their expressive light brown eyes met my curious green eyes. You could say that we had a staring contest… that lasted for about two minutes to say the least. Eye contact, whether questioning or innocent, is something I've grown accustomed to. I'm not the type that gets uncomfortable just because of a stare/s. Try living with a therapist as a father and you'll understand why.

"Anou, senpai?" A soft, feminine voice said. "Is this really necessary? It seems a bit too unjust."

That Tamaki guy, who was standing a good five feet away from me, rushed to the girl. Enveloping her in a tight hug, he responded, "Of course, dear daughter. That person knows what your real gender is!" He hesitated a little before saying 'person'. I somehow felt offended.

"No one but our fellow club members should know that!" He finished.

"But what about-

"Kasanoda, tono?' The twins said teasingly. I was really amazed at their synchronization.

Tamaki's eyebrows contorted. Clearly, he was not expecting a comeback.

"W-well, he's different. He found out that Haruhi was a girl by accident! A horrible, horrible accident!" Tamaki snapped. 'Seriously, multiple-personality disorder or what?'

"And don't change the subject!" He added.

I looked around the room and saw the David and Goliath pair from earlier. You know- the short, cute blonde one and the tall, silent one. They were standing near the door, seemingly watching the situation rather than join it. The blonde one noticed me looking at their direction and gave me a sympathetic smile. Which to me was like, 'Don't worry; we'll end your misery soon.' I could only blink.

"Stranger." Tamaki-something or other's voice said. I turned to the direction it came from (which was at my side) and saw Tamaki.

"Yes?" I said. Then I realized something- I was surrounded. The twins were on my right side, Tamaki moved to my front, and (surprisingly fast) the short one and tall one on my left side. Their expressions differed, though. Tamaki's was a mixture of determined and nervous; the twins smiled like Cheshire cats; the short blond one's expression was that of a cute guilty child that had just broken something really expensive; and the tall one's expression was blank. Mine? Pure innocence and curiosity.

"You're from…

"Lobelia, aren't you?" The twins said, a dangerous aura surrounded them. It was as though they, too, had an awful experience at Lobelia as well.

It took a few seconds for me to fully register their question. And once I did, the horrors of St. Lobelia flashed inside my head all at once. All girl's school. Sanity. Ryoko. Crushed dreams. The red and white uniform. Wait a second, what?

Instinctively, I looked down, seeing (well hardly, since the rope pretty much covered my whole torso) my dark blue jacket, which underneath it was a white blouse with a red neck tie; and my light blue knee-length skirt- my uniform. Not the white blouse and red skirt that students at St. Lobelia wore.

The others, as if reading my thoughts, realized it too. "T-then you must've been sent by the Football Club!" Tamaki said as he pointed his index finger at me.

Football Club? Images of bulky uniformed guys came to my mind, all of them beating each other up for the pigskin diagonal-ish ball. Blood, cursing, bruises, psychopathic coaches that won't mind if the players' arms get torn off, brute strength… that's football, right?

"Yes, the Football Club must have some kind of revenge in store for Okaa-san!" If there was a synonym for 'huh' but with a more intense questioning level, I'd probably top it off.

"Okaa-sa-

"Kuze-kun is certainly devious!"

"Kuze? Who's-

"Making a woman do his bidding, how shameful!"

"What're you-

"So what do you have to say, stranger?"

I narrowed my eyes. That guy never let me finish any of my sentences. And even when I did, he'd ignore it. Did I want to say something? No. Should I have said something? Yes. Did I want to scream at the top of my lungs? Maybe.

"We must be correct then! Seeing as you are speechless, stranger." Tamaki added.

Scratch that… Yes.

"Senpai, I think you should listen to her side of the story first before accusing her of anything." The girl known as Haruhi or 'dear daughter' said, a worried look on her face. Thank God, at least someone's logical.

Tamaki gaped at Haruhi as though she were an angel sent from above to save humanity from total destruction. I wondered what exactly their relationship was.

After a few seconds of silence, Tamaki wrapped his arms around the girl once again. Even though they were a few feet apart, Tamaki managed to jump all the way to her. "Dearest daughter, I'm so sorry for displaying such a horrible example of interrogating a total stranger in front of you!" His eyes were filled with tears and he hugged the girl tighter. "My worry for your safety just overcame me. And, those devious twins were the first ones to tie her up- I swear!"

"Tono, it was your idea and yours alone." The twins said simultaneously. "We were merely doing what you said." And the bickering started.

My shoulders slumped and I hung my head. I was never going to get out of there. Not sane anyway.

"We're really sorry about this, Takayagi-chan." I heard a small, child-like voice in front of me. I looked up and saw the short blonde one and the tall one. He gave me an apologetic smile (the short one I mean, the tall one just nodded). "Tama-chan just got nervous and overreacted. I'm pretty sure they don't really mean to be so cruel."

Overreacted, huh? I somehow understood.

The bickering of the twins and Tamaki lasted for a while. The Haruhi girl looked pretty annoyed, but she seemed used to it. Moments later, I saw Tamaki sulking in one corner of the room, drawing circles with his finger. I turned my ears off for a while, so I didn't quite understand why he did so.

"I do not have perverted dreams of tying up girls." I heard him mutter. The twins just laughed at this, teasing Tamaki even more. They seem to enjoy mocking and torturing their 'tono'. I wondered why though.

Call it paranoia but the way they acted, I thought they had forgotten all about the fact that they tied up an innocent girl that was inwardly screaming her head off. Seriously, they were bickering, shouting, running, playing and teasing as if they hadn't just interrogated someone forcefully.

Tamaki got over his depression state (don't ask me why and when because I wasn't paying that much attention) and was running after the twins, shouting something along the lines of, "Don't you dare kidnap my daughter, dress up as Cheshire cats, make my daughter wear a short, blue dress that makes her look like Alice, hire Kasanoda to be the white rabbit, make Hunny-senpai and Mori-senpai be the march hare and mad hatter, recreate Alice in Wonderland, and post it on the internet with the title "Tono's Perverted Dream! You devilish twins!". But I must've heard it wrong, that would have been too weird.

It was odd but I actually found Tamaki's chase for the twins entertaining. It was a bit comical actually. Laughing, shrieking, running… all of these and more were done as though they had no captive in front of them. Figures.

But, to everyone's surprise, someone opened the door. The double doors slowly opened, everyone stopped dead on their tracks. I looked around the room. The expression on their faces were all the same: fear. Curious, I stared at the opening doors and waited in anticipation as to who is responsible for conjuring up such fear. The doors opened wide enough for the others and I to see who it was. It was him. The guy who know I should know but can't really remember appeared at the doorway. Funny how he kept on appearing like that.

It was as though the air in the room had thinned up to the point of causing convulsions (Yes, I didn't think it was possible too). Tamaki was the one that was frozen in fear the most. Don't tell me that Tamaki also had the same problem with the mysterious glasses-wearing guy like me. What, he couldn't remember him either? If so, at least I had an ally.

It seemed like ages before the short guy broke the awkward silence. "Kyo-chan, you finally came back." He said cheerfully as though he wasn't just paralyzed.

The guy just nodded and proceeded to walk to my direction. With the look on his face, it occurred to me that he was in a sour mood and why the others were so afraid. If you've ever seen The Ring's Sadako, then you know how terrifying a single glare can be, right? The guy was like that only twice as scary. His glare made you want to scream girlishly, run to the nearest corner and suck your thumb while rocking yourself back and forth. Okay fine, that description might be a bit exaggerated but you get the point. And besides, Sadako is a woman. Wait a second, no she isn't. //may be a spoiler for The Ring fans!// In the novel, Nagao said that he raped Sadako, didn't he? But then Nagao realized that Sadako was really a male. What a wonderful experience for him to go through (*cough*sarcasm*cough*). He said something about Testicular Feminization Syndrome or something. Sadako had the appearance of a beautiful woman, but she was genetically male. I've read that novel twice so I was sure of that. The cover of the novel caught my attention the first time I saw it, you see.

My mind was too preoccupied with the thoughts of Sadako that I didn't realize that the glasses-wearing, fear striking, paralyzing glare guy was standing right in front of me. What was worse was the fact that he was (or had been) talking. Damn.

"And that is why my fellow club members were forced to take such a reckless and merciless action, Takayagi-san."

Damn again.

Normal POV

Kyouya wasn't in a very tolerable mood. School work had suddenly become tricky; managing the host club was suddenly taking up most of his schedule (much to the dismay of School Work); and his sleep pattern had been reformatted from eight hours to four, which was killing him slowly. He needed eight hours of sleep to function properly (not to mention to keep him calm). And Tamaki's idiocy/naiveté was the icing on the cake.

If it were under normal circumstances, Kyouya could've handled school, work, and Tamaki with one hand tied behind his back. But he no longer had chefs to cook for him, or maids to clean his house/room. He was all on his own. And apparently, a month of independence (a sought after yet misunderstood asset) was his breaking point. Specifically when he got a 97 out of a possible 100 in a History test, his lowest yet. His grades were slipping.

After a couple of quiet and undisturbed minutes of taking a calming walk around the school, Kyouya cleared his head and took control of his emotions. Realization struck him as a thought (coming from Tamaki) echoed in his mind. "Help." A word that Kyouya was well familiar with. After all, he was the Shadow King… the one who occasionally helps out but most of the time makes things much more difficult. But the word "help" never seemed to be able to come out from his mouth. He tried once… he chocked once the H was uttered.

Perhaps he needed to be more willing to request for assistance. Yes, that was what he needed- assistance. That wouldn't be that horrible, would it? There was no shame of asking for help. Assistance was what he needed.

Kyouya nodded, an idea began to form in his mind. 'That is surely to improve my efficiency.' He thought.

But the only problem was who was going to assist him. If they were to hold an audition for the Host Club's assistant, surely, a huge percentage of the female population of the school would stampede their way to the Third Music Room just to get in line for the audition. No. An audition would be a disastrous idea. And besides, Kyouya didn't need a love-struck (distracted) fan girl following him around messing things up as their "love" would pass by.

And if his assistant were to be male… impossible. Kyouya doubted that a young man would be willing to do whatever he says. He could probably devise a plan in order to 'persuade' someone to be his assistant, but he needed to be in good terms with the other families (even those unrelated to his family's business, just in case). Meaning, no blackmail/threatening.

Who could be his assistant?

Kyouya pondered on that question until, without realizing it, he got back to the third music room.

"You devilish twins!" Kyouya heard an oh-too-familiar voice shriek inside the closed room. It was to be expected though. Those twins always provoke their so-called 'tono'.

Taking in a deep and calming breath, Kyouya placed his hand on the door handle. It felt a bit cold, as was what he was really feeling. For a moment Kyouya wanted to turn around and walk away from the disaster that was sure to have been caused by the host club inside the noisy room. But he knew better than that. Kyouya was an intelligent man. He knew that if he were to leave right then and there he would face the consequences, even though he did no harm, sooner or later. So leaving was not an option for Kyouya.

And besides, Kyouya had only been out for about half an hour. What could they have possibly gotten themselves into in that short time span?

Surely, they would've behaved.

They were high school students after all and not children.

They knew better than to do something incredibly stupid.

They would, right?

What the hell was Kyouya thinking?

He opened the door slowly, half expecting something to explode. The room fell silent as he did so. Good. When the door opened wide enough for Kyouya to see what was inside, Kyouya would've exploded if not for his cool and collected attitude.

The Host Club not only did something incredibly stupid… they did something practically illegal as well. In other words- tying up an innocent girl against their will (tormenting her with their idiocy no doubt).

Kyouya entered the room filled with awkward silence. His footsteps made the only noise in the room. Eyes followed him in the room. He was heading towards the tied up girl- his neighbor.

"Kyo-chan, you finally came back." Kyouya's sugar-addicted senpai said, breaking the silence. He just nodded. Kyouya stopped walking once he was four feet away from the tied up girl. He stared at the girl directly in the eyes, who in turn stared back. But Kyouya noticed something odd about the girl's eyes. They were a bit distant. As if she were deep in though or… distracted.

"So, you actually went this far." Kyouya stated, turning to Tamaki, who was as still as a statue. "You do realize that this is cruelty, right?"

"K-Kyouya! This isn't what it looks like! I-I was just… They were… And sh-she was… I-I can explain." Tamaki stuttered, beads of sweat accumulated his head. "I didn't do this just because of a perverted fantasy!"

The megane narrowed his eyes. Once again, Tamaki was being an idiot.

"Kyouya-senpai," Haruhi stepped forward. "Takayagi-san found out that I am a girl and they kind of overreacted. Again."

I thought it was something like that, Kyouya thought. "Tamaki, I don't think you've noticed but Takayagi-san is the second scholar student."

"What?!" Tamaki's eyes grew wide.

"So that's why she's here." Two identical red heads said in unison. "How boring."

Kyouya sighed. He was well aware of the fact that Tamaki was called by his father before classes ended. Tamaki was called to be introduced to the scholar student. Unfortunately, Kyouya's little 'outbreak' caused Tamaki to fail to remember his appointment with the school's chairman. Thus, Tamaki got to the chairman's office late, got paranoid (the 'devious' twins might've hassled his daughter), somehow bumped into Takayagi-san, and one way or another lead to the current situation.

One thing that made Kyouya wondered though was how Takayagi-san figured out Haruhi's true gender in a short amount of time.

Kyouya turned his gaze on the blonde, green-eyed girl. 'Is she sharper than she looks?', Kyouya thought. He checked the girl once more, who looked pretty innocent. One might even say that she was deep in thought.

There was a high possibility that Takayagi-san might sue, so Kyouya decided to put on his 'Host' act and convince her to just forget about the whole situation.

"Takayagi-san," Kyouya started, he walked over to her and started untying the ropes. "I am deeply sorry for what my associates have done. I assure you, they meant no malice. They act extremely reckless when provoked, you see." Kyouya began explaining the motive that the Host club had (or thought) and how it would be greatly appreciated if she didn't have any hard feelings. Or sue.

Unfortunately, Kyouya's little speech was never acknowledged by Takayagi-san's ears (you know why).

After unraveling the last rope, Kyouya gazed at Takayagi-san once more. "And that is why my fellow club members were forced to take such a reckless and merciless action, Takayagi-san." He ended. "I apologize if this seems unreasonable in any way."

The girl took a long and thoughtful silence. The rest of the Host Club were anxiously waiting for her reply, hoping that she wouldn't get mad with unimaginable fury.

Takayagi-san blinked. Standing up, she said in a barely audible voice, "Yeah."

Miyuki's POV

As it turns out, I was right. The glasses-wearing guy was talking. And the he was explaining what I've been pondering ever since I got tied up i.e. what exactly was going on.

Maybe I should've listened.

What really got me on my toes was when the glasses-wearing guy said, "I apologize if this seems unreasonable in any way." I could've screamed.

What was unreasonable? Why would it seem like it? What is the 'this' that he meant? And why would he apologize?!

Later on, I realized that the ropes that bound me were no longer there. I was free! But at the same time I was trapped. All of them (the people in the room) were waiting for me to say something. Oh the horror. Why couldn't they just drop me off somewhere deserted like all kidnappers normally do? At least then I'd feel relieved.

I stood up, trying to act casual and calm. They were still hanging so I just whispered a 'yeah'.

"You're not mad?" Tamaki said.

Damn, follow-up question! I thought.

"N-no…" I said unsurely.

"You don't mind that we just tied you up?"

"And interrogated/accused you?" The twins said.

Stop it with these follow-up question!

Sweating, I stared at the floor and noticed how nice the tiles were. I guess it was expected. After all, it was Ouran and not some public school. Of course even their floors had to be lavish and such. What? They would cheap out on the-

'Takayagi-san?"

I snapped out of my reverie.

"Y-yeah, it's okay." I replied. How long was I out? There was yet another awkward silence that filled the room.

'Now's my chance.' I thought.

"Takayagi-sa-

Before that Tamaki guy could finish, I bowed quickly and said noticeably, "Sorry for bothering. I'll be going now." No force was strong enough to stop me from dashing out the door.

My legs ran as fast as they could and since they were rarely used to that type of speed, my legs felt as if they were burning. But you know what? I didn't care. It didn't matter. As soon as I stepped outside the gates of Ouran, I swear I heard Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" in orchestra. Then and only then was I free.

Little did I know that that was the last ounce of freedom that I would have.

Love Thy Neighbor

Home was a safe haven for me. Tears of joy could've run down my face if not for my exhaustion. Once I got to my apartment door, my fingers trembled as I fished for my keys in my pocket. I opened the door, not bothering to close it fully, and ran to the couch.

I collapsed on the soft, foamy couch and tried to sleep. Unfortunately, something was off. Paranoia clung on to me like mollusk sticking on a rock. There was definitely something different.

Sitting up, I looked around the room. No, it wasn't my apartment. I was sure of that. For no particular reason, I stared at my hands. My pale hands were trembling. To be honest, they kind of looked unfamiliar. Like, I've neglected them for all these years and I've only seen them now. It was a weird feeling. But my hands were-

Dear god, I was thinking about my hands! Something felt wrong and I was thinking of my hands! I really have got to do something about my current condition.

After a long and heavy sigh, I stared at the table in front of me. There were countless papers, most of them letters or envelopes. There was even a thick envelope labeled "DRAFT". A neon pink note sat on top of it all. 'Kaya was here.' I thought. The table was a mess, I hated that. So I meticulously organized each and every one of those papers and envelopes, setting aside the "DRAFT" envelope. I needed that for later. After a while, I was contented. And yes, I needed to do that. Trust me; in this type of business, you need to know which paper is more important and which one to throw out. Knowing which is which and which goes where is a valuable ability. Organizing can be a bit of a hassle. Luckily, I've got years of experience under my belt.

My hands reached for the neon note that stood out the most (Kaya's way of saying "Don't you dare leave this unread!"). I guess I was expecting a note from her sooner or later. I've already sent the draft of my newest manga that was collection of short stories. I know I said that I would be taking a Hiatus but I couldn't help it! The short stories were haunting me. They wouldn't get out of my head! Even when I studied! So in a way, I kind of cleared my mind by working. If I didn't, who knows what could've happened? My studying could've been interrupted. Yeah, that's it. That's good.

And besides, it's only 200 pages. Before you ask, I opted to publish it because keeping it around the house was kind of unsettling. My mind kept screaming to write more of it, so I gave it to Kaya. And besides, I wanted to publish something before I started going to Ouran. My final adieu, you could say.

I read Kaya's letter silently. It said,

Miki,

You sure are late today. What were you doing? I never thought I'd ever had to wait for you during the weekdays. Truth be told, I was going to call the police the first hour that passed after school was dismissed. Good thing Ren reminded me that you had to meet with the head honcho of Ouran. What a mess that could've been.

Oh yeah, I read the draft that you sent and as usual your stories are creepy. In a good way. How were you able to sleep after drawing those scenes? And why was that guy in Story 4 eating a foot? Guess your fans are going to have another taste of Shinji Tamura's disturbing one-shots.

The draft is good. Needs a little cleaning up here and there, but that's what I'm here for! Good job on it Miki!

Sincerely yours,

Kaya

P.S.

Why were you working instead of studying? Didn't you say you were on Hiatus? What happened to your so-called "promise"?

So you broke your promise huh Takayagi Miyuki. Tsk. Tsk. And to think I was going to praise you for restraining your temptation/s.

And don't give me that whole "I needed to clear my head" excuse. I know better than that, girl. So you better keep your promise this time, Miki. Otherwise… Lobelia shall win. But no pressure.

Gambatte ne!

My eyes were frozen on the second to the last paragraph. Lobelia shall win. That gave me shivers.

As usual, Kaya read me like an open book. She even knew my so-called excuse for working without even meeting me. I'm really glad that Kaya's my editor. I guess luck was on my side a couple of years back. Not to mention my big brother. It's a long story. Oh, and Ren is Kaya's twenty-year-old little brother. And yes, they do live together. Another long story.

Without really realizing it, I had drifted off into space again. I was really exhausted. Physically, mentally and psychologically (don't ask how).

I lied back into the couch and stared at the ceiling. It suddenly dawned on me that I was going to transfer school next week. The thought never really crossed my mind. Strange, I know. All I was thinking was 'Not St. Lobelia'. To be honest, I had this weirdly sad feeling inside me. So I reminisced on the good days I had in my current school.

Unfortunately, I could remember hardly any. Good or bad. In fact, all I could remember was the MAO club. And even then the memories were limited to the first day I joined to day I quit (3 months ago). It really was strange. I've been in that school since I was in Elementary and yet I barely remember anything. It was as if I was physically there but not mentally. What is this feeling I have? Regret?

Suddenly, I had an impulse to go to the rooftop. I wanted to think in silence. No, I wanted to think somewhere where there is open space. i.e. the rooftop.

I got up and glanced at the papers left on the table. 'Good thing they're already organized.'

My heart raced a little as I made my way to the door. It has been a while since I went to that deserted area. But I needed to make sure that I won't take that long. 'An hour or so.' I thought. I got out of my apartment and closed the door. Realizing that I wouldn't take that long, I decided not to lock it. After all, I was in the third floor so it's a bit difficult for thieves to get there. And I only had one neighbor. What could go happen?

Little did I know that that question was going to be answered in a while.

Normal POV

"You actually tied her up?" Kyouya asked, masking his irritation with a calm voice. His question wasn't really addressed to anyone in particular; Kyouya wasn't exactly looking at any of them straight in the eye. But everyone knew who it was for: Tamaki.

"I-I j-just th-thought…" The Host Club king stuttered. Tamaki wasn't quite sure if his best friend was angry, irritated or furious. Or even sleepy. Nevertheless, the flamboyant King was petrified. He has seen how Kyouya can be truly angry. And since then, he had to sleep with the lights on.

If sweating could make noise, it was the only sound that filled the music room. And Tamaki was mostly the one sweating.

Haruhi, as unexpected as it is, stepped up. Her small figure blocking Tamaki. "Kyouya-senpai, what Tamaki-senpai did was extremely cruel." Who would've guessed that that was what she had to say?

Tamaki did an anime fall. A split-second ago, his eyes were filled with tears as he saw Haruhi trying to protect him. Unfortunately, Tamaki was wrong.

"But-

Tamaki's hopes burst through the roof.

"I believe that a violent and painful punishment would not be enough for him."

And once again, Haruhi has crushed yet another man's hopes. "D-daught-e-er." Tamaki said, on his knees and trembling. "Why do you detest your father so much?! I only meant it for your own well-being and safety!"

"That's no excuse for taking someone hostage." Two voices said.

"You demons! You helped as well!"

"Not that much." Hikaru and Kaoru responded, their eyelids half-closed due to their boredom. "Kyouya-senpai, what will you do?"

Kyouya was staring out the window, keeping a safe distance away from everyone. Truth be told, Kyouya expected something like this to happen someday. It was inevitable. The Host Club was bound to tie up at least one stranger per year. But Kyouya never thought the tied up stranger was his strange neighbor. Not only that, said strange neighbor was going to go to school in Ouran next week. Simply put, Kyouya had not seen this coming. So he did what he could.

"I'm going to go home now, if no one minds." He said.

Improvise.

"Wait Kyouya!" Tamaki said as he took hold of Kyouya. "You can't leave the Host Club!"

"Tamaki-

"Yes, it's true that we've done some awful things before and has unloaded all of them to you, but we can change!"
"Tamaki-

"Give us one more chance!"

"Ta-

"Don't leave us, okaa-san! Think of our children!"

"Tamaki." Kyouya said dangerously low. Tamaki, who's grip on Kyouya got tighter each passing wail, lit up. Was Kyouya going to stay?

"Yes, okaa-san?" Tamaki replied innocently, gleams in his eyes.

Hollywood's most prominent sound effects artists couldn't create a scary enough background music when Kyouya said, slowly yet dangerously, "Get off me."

Whimpering like an injured puppy, Tamaki retreated a couple of steps backwards, shrinking as the fear of Kyouya grew.

Kyouya pinched the bridge of his nose, calming himself. Then, taking a long breath in he said, "As I was saying, though misinterpreted, I'm going home now. And no, not to leave the Host Club, but to take action to settle down the current situation."

"What situation?" The twins asked.

"The situation with Takayagi-san." Kyouya answered, adjusting his glasses (a habit of his).

"Eh?" Majority of the Host club members chorused.

"But didn't she say that she was fine, senpai?" Hikaru said.

"Yeah, she just stood up and left." Kaoru said.

"That's my point."

Curious eyes faced Kyouya. "Weren't any of you paying attention? She just stood up and left. Just like that."

"So?" The twins asked.

Kyouya narrowed his eyes. Did he have to spoon feed it to them? "Don't any of you find it suspicious? If you would be tied up with no knowledge as to why, would you act so calm when you'd be released?"

It took about five seconds for Kyouya's question really sink in to them. If it were them, then they would kick and scream and demand what was going on. That or they'd plot an incredibly devious plan to get back at the kidnappers. Like maybe sabotage or a humiliating joke or even…

"SABOTAGE?!" The twins chorused. "She wouldn't tattle, would she?"

"Tattle?" Tamaki asked, peering at Kyouya.

"That's what worries me. She's unfamiliar and most of the time strange. And I haven't quite gotten that much information about her yet." Kyouya said in a matter-of-fact tone.

Haruhi raised an eyebrow. "You haven't checked her profile? That's pretty surprising senpai."

"I just never thought that she'd be worth looking in to." Kyouya said flatly. "And to be honest, she seems uninteresting and insignificant."

Haruhi's face fell. For an instant, she actually thought that Kyouya had respected the privacy of at least one person. She was proven wrong. "You're still as cruel as ever." She stated.

"That being said, I'll be going now." Kyouya continued walking towards the door.

"Wait Kyouya, you don't even know where Takayagi-san lives." Tamaki said.

"Actually, I do." Kyouya didn't bother turning to them. A small smile crept on his face. "She's my neighbor."

1…

2…

3…

"Eeehhh?" The others chorused (except for Mori-senpai, he just had a blank look on his face).

"It really shouldn't come to a surprise. Didn't you notice my hint of familiarity with her?" Kyouya composedly stated. Kyouya noticed that Takayagi-san had left her bags in the club room. 'She really wanted to leave that bad? Normal, I suppose.' Kyouya thought as he picked up the paper bags lying on the floor.

'A good excuse for an unexpected visit', Kyouya mused.

"I'll take this with me then." Kyouya said, his back still on the rest of the host club members.

Before anyone could ask anything, Kyouya left the room. His co-members were left there, mouths agape, eyes wide. Takayagi-san was Kyouya's neighbor? She was the neighbor that had to put up with Kyouya's… tendencies in the morning? And more importantly, she was the owner of the plants that Tamaki broke but never heard another word of the destroyed plant? Her?

"That poor girl." Kaoru said unexpectedly, breaking the silence.

"What makes you say that?" Hikaru asked, which was basically what everyone else wanted to ask.

Kaoru noticed that everyone was looking at him and he stared at the ceiling. "Not sure. But it feels kind of right saying "that poor girl", don't you think?"

Everyone nodded. Takayagi-san was the neighbor of the Shadow King/ Devil (redundant, but true).

Love thy Neighbor

Kyouya made his way to the hallways, thinking of ways to convince Takayagi-san into not suing, tattling, bad mouthing their club without blackmailing or threatening her. First, he'd have to apologize for the ill behavior of his fellow members (again), then he'd give her the bags that she conveniently forgot in the club room, and finally he'd come up with a way to befriend the girl so that she wouldn't think of suing, tattling, or bad mouthing their club. And with Kyouya's good looks, that would've been easy. Note: would have.

Unfortunately, he suspected that Takayagi-san was one of those girls that don't fall for a pretty face. Heck, Kyouya suspected that that girl wasn't listening to him at all. At the club room and back at the apartment. Takayagi-san showed no signs that she even noticed her potted plants were gone for about a week. What Kyouya wondered the most was if Takayagi-san even recognized him. Whenever they'd cross paths, she acted as though they were complete strangers. Come to think of it, Kyouya never heard Takayagi-san utter his name except for the first time they'd met. Maybe she forgot that they were neighbors.

No, that was impossible.

Kyouya got inside the car that Tachibana drove him to and from school with. He ignored Tachibana's 'good afternoon' and rode in silence. The paper bags were placed safely to his side.

How was he going to go through with it? Oh sure, Takayagi-san was just a scholarship student, not to mention a commoner, but she was still a girl. And, based on experience, girls hold the longest grudges. Plus, they can convince other girls that something/someone is awful as easy as a gossip can spread. Who knows? The Host Club could get scandalized. And that was one of the things that Kyouya would never allow. That and allowing something to be 'free'. He'd shred someone to pieces if he ever heard that word added with 'host club' without the word 'not' in between.

Time flew by as Kyouya thought of strategies. Not only that, he was still deciding on who could be his assistant. He hasn't told Tamaki about this, though. Maybe he would tomorrow.

"Ootori-sama, we're here." Tachibana said reluctantly, wondering why Kyouya hadn't noticed that.

Kyouya finally noticed that they had. He got out of the car, took the two paper bags that sat on his side, and headed in to the apartment building. It was already late in the afternoon. Kyouya rode the elevator up to his floor and wondered what was going to be his approach. But he didn't have enough time. The metallic elevator doors had already opened and revealed that he was in his floor.

Not wasting any time, Kyouya walked towards the door next to his and knocked on it. 'I'll just have to play this by ear.' Kyouya thought.

A few seconds of unanswered knocks went by and Kyouya began to deduce that Takayagi-san wasn't home. Or had fallen asleep. His right hand knocked, while his left held the somewhat heavy paper bags.

Kyouya was about to give up when he realized that he still had quite a lot of things to do. And he couldn't put it off tomorrow since he had something to do as well. Damn it, he really needed an assistant. Soon, he hoped.

"Excuse me, Takayagi-san?" Kyouya said clearly. But no response came. He repeated. "Takayagi-san?" Still nothing.

Kyouya audibly sighed. Of all the neighbors he could've had, he ended up with this one. Kyouya's right hand rested on the door knob. But he didn't really plan on twisting it, of course it was locked. What kind of idiot would leave their house without locking the doors?

Subconsciously, Kyouya twisted the door knob. He was expecting the door knob to stop a quarter away. But to his surprise, it didn't. Kyouya twisted it fully and the door opened. Furrowing his eyebrows, Kyouya checked the door knob if it had been broken. No, it was flawless.

Kyouya was astounded. She actually left her door unlocked! What if some burglar, or worse (the host club), got into the building? How reckless.

Looking around the halls, Kyouya wondered if he should just close the supposedly locked door. Kyouya glanced at his watch. It was late and he really needed to work.

He had no other choice. Kyouya opened the door wider, only to be greeted with darkness. 'So she really isn't home.' Kyouya confirmed. He decided to just leave the bags with a note on it, seeing as there was no point in sticking around. If he did, then he'd get mistaken as a thief or something.

Kyouya dug in to his pocket for a piece of paper but found none. He looked around the room, impressed by how tidy and organized it was, and his gaze fell on the living room table. It was jammed full of papers and brown manila envelopes. 'Why does she have so many of those?' Kyouya thought.

Kyouya made his way to the living room, leaving the door wide opened. He put down the bags near the sofa and glanced at the table. It was fairly low and rectangular in shape. Kyouya noted the pillow sitting at the end of the sofa. The pillow was too big for a sofa pillow. 'What, she sleeps in the living room?'

A neon pink paper caught Kyouya's attention. It was sitting on top of a thick, brown envelope. Kyouya picked it up out of curiosity. He knew that he shouldn't have but for some reason he did anyway. It wasn't as though the girl's family would be beneficial to his family. So good connections with her was futile.

The megane read the note mentally. It was from a woman named Kaya. Kyouya remembered that Kaya was a close friend of Takayagi-san, or something.

As Kyouya read the letter, he got more and more confused. It said something about work and Hiatus and even one-shots. But what really got Kyouya's attention was the name Shinji Tamura. Kyouya's mind began searching for definitions of that name. Shinji Iokawa was a first year at Ouran, his family has helped Kyouya's a couple of times. But he wasn't Shinji Tamura. Ririko Tamura was a third year, one of the few fan girls of Mori that had enough courage to confess to him. But still, she isn't Shinji Tamura.

Finally, a memory came back to Kyouya. He had already heard of the name Shinji Tamura, all thanks to the host club's Otaku manager (supposedly) and the school's Black Magic club president.

Renge-kun barged into the Third Music Room as per usual, holding the latest volume of the manga 'Love Love… something or other' one day. Then for some reason, Nekozawa-senpai came to the club room (via dark, gloomy, out-of-place door that appears out of nowhere). Nekozawa-senpai said that Renge-kun's taste in manga was horrible. Then he said something like, "The only manga worth reading is one written by Shinji Tamura." Kyouya remembered this because that was the first he'd heard of Nekozawa-senpai's interest in manga. Then Renge-kun said that Shinji Tamura's manga was the most disturbing manga there was. Even the mangaka himself was disturbing and creepy. No one has ever seen Shinji Tamura in person. Others (paranoid otakus) even speculate that Shinji Tamura is the incarnation of Edgar Allan Poe. Or he doesn't exist at all. After all, no one has ever met him, heard of him, or even noticed him till a couple of years back.

Shinji Tamura was well-known in the manga world.

It finally occurred to Kyouya… Takayagi Miyuki was probably Shinji Tamura.

… Could she be?

Kyouya gently shook his head. It was none of his concerns. Whether or not she was the alleged mangaka, Kyouya didn't really care. But still…

A curious Kyouya is never a good sign. It's a sure warning that something extremely private is going to be revealed. With or without the owner's consent.

Kyouya's dark orbs scanned the letter, then to the table. Another thing caught Kyouya's eye. The manila envelope with the word DRAFT written largely on it. Weighing his options, Kyouya decided to take hold of the thick envelope, open it and take a little peek on the contents.

What Kyouya saw captivated him. It was a manga. Or at least, that's what Kyouya thought. He'd never read one before. He noticed that there were scribbling on some of the pages, though he paid little attention to them. What captivated/intrigued him was the story. The contents of the envelope turned out to be short stories. Unsettlingly interesting stories. Was that guy eating a foot?

A small devious smile crept on Kyouya's face. 'This is good.' He thought. Kyouya's head was already concocting plans on how to exploit what he had just discovered in numerous ways. And all of them pleased our dear Shadow King. But one plan satisfied Kyouya the most.

A most devious plan.

Looks like Kyouya just found his slave- I mean… assistant. Yes, Kaoru was right. That poor girl.

Notes: Yeah, who didn't see that coming? I know I know, I'm cliche. But hey, it's fun. I especially had fun writing Miyuki's ADD scenes. *giggles* Ahh... ADD. The part about Sadako is true. You can count on that. Wikipedia helped. Sorry if I'd ruin it for some of "The Ring" fans. It was somewhat necessary.

So what do you think? I probably made some grammatical errors somewhere in this chapters. For those who've noticed, please point them out for me. I need the constructive criticism for future references. Review if you could. You don't even need to log-in, I enabled my anonymous reviews setting.