Thank you, Sora-chan for pointing out that mistake to me. I had a mini heart attack but I'm in the process of fixing it all. So, dear readers, if old chapters pop up being updated don't worry about it. I'm just fixing minor things I've been meaning to do for a while. Now onwards to the next chapter…

Chapter 20: The Mask Crumbles

I woke up feeling very exhausted. My eyes were puffy and my head felt like it was hit by a truck. A very large, high speeding, truck. I noticed my reflection from across the room. At least, I thought it was my reflection.

My dark chocolate hair was clumped and matted in tangles and stuck up in varying places. But more than that, my hair was really long. Once I brushed it out I was sure it would go down to my waist. My blue eyes were swollen and bloodshot. My face, instead of being swollen, seemed very hollow as if I hadn't eaten anything in days. My skin was ghostly pale, making my bright blue veins stand out even more. Just my cheeks and my nose were abnormally flushed a rose pink. Well, there was also that nasty bruise on the right side.

It was as if everything that had happened the last several months was only a very bad dream. I was just waking up for the first time in a long while. I felt it then. Something inside me just fell apart. I felt incredibly vulnerable and insecure. I felt so… exposed. Years of acting, years of not showing my true emotions, came washing over me like a pent up geyser. Oh wait. It really was coming up. I quickly looked around and found a trash can not too far away. I ran to it and puked my guts out.

I took a large gulp of air when it finally stopped and rested my head on my knees. This room seemed familiar. It wasn't my room, though. I looked down. The nightgown wasn't mine either. Black velvet curtains hung over large arched windows that stretched from the ceiling to the floor. A midnight blue and grey pattern covered the walls. Dark mahogany furniture lined the room. I stroked my hand across the dark, plush carpet. It was all so familiar.

Midnight Room…

That's right. I'm in the Midnight Room. I must be at the Hitachiin Mansion. The door creaked open as a maid walked in. "Oh! Miss, you are awake! Poor thing, you've been asleep since yesterday morning when you were brought here," she cried, running over to me. Yesterday morning? Have I really been asleep for over twenty-four hours? She gently stroked my gross hair from my face and moved the trash can aside. I noticed it was the same maid from before that used to stutter. "Tsk, tsk. This won't do. Come, dear, let's get you cleaned up." She carefully helped me to my feet and led me to a large nearby bathroom.

Maybe large was an understatement. The giant bathtub in the middle of it alone looked like a miniature swimming pool. There was even plush furniture in there. I sighed as the maid quickly got to work filling the tub with hot water and oils for a bubble bath. She then proceeded to undress me out of the nightgown and help me into the bath. She told me to just relax and to let her take care of getting me cleaned up as some other maids quickly walked in. You didn't have to tell me twice. I didn't have to lift a finger. It was heavenly, although a little awkward at first.

At some point the other maids left leaving only the original to keep coming my now silky hair. "Where did they go?" I asked quietly.

"They went to clean your room and prepare your clothes, Miss. They wanted to give you a little privacy for a moment, as well," she replied.

I nodded half-heartedly. She didn't say anything else but that was ok with me. She was right. I needed a moment to myself. I needed to put myself back together and focus back on reality. My eyes focused on the details and cracks in the marble tiling of the ceiling. My mind flooded with information. There was so much I hadn't been dealing with: my nana's death, my mom leaving, my father manipulating me, CHASE manipulating me. I started remembering one thing after the other. I remembered being in that cavern with Kaoru. It was so dark. I remembered that day with Hikaru when those two men tried to rob the store and even though I wasn't afraid then, I was afraid now for what could have happened. I remembered when Kaoru went missing, when Hikaru left Haruhi in the middle of the storm, I even started remembering things from before I came here like when my Gracie, my puppy, died, the day I got the letter from my father, all of the fights and yelling my mom has had with not just my father but with other strangers in the doorway, the day I snuck into the limo when I saw mom walk out with a suitcase…

"Miss?" My thoughts were interrupted by the made. "Miss, don't cry," she said taking a cold wash cloth and dabbing my face. "I know the past can hurt, Miss, but it's not good to dwell on it. You're safe now, Miss."

I smiled softly up at her. "I don't know what to do," I whispered.

"You just move on, Miss. Simply put one foot in front of the other and keep on walking," she replied with a bright cheerful smile as she helped me out of the bath. She wrapped a robe around me and sat me down in front of a vanity as she began to dry my hair. Once it was dried and perfectly straightened she pinned the top half back, letting a few short strands in the front frame my face. She stroked it with a smile and led me back to the room. "Lunch is almost ready. I'll leave you to get dressed, Miss," she said turning to leave.

"Ma'am?" She stopped and turned to face me. "Um, thank you." She smiled brightly and left.

I turned to where the dress lay on the bed and picked it up. It was lavender in color and fell all the way down to the floor, held up by two thin straps. The skirt was flowy enough to move about in but still fell in a slim drape. All around it was a fairly simple dress. Next to the spot where the dress was I saw the bumble bee pendant and scowled. I picked it up by the fingertips and chucked it out the window.

I heard a knock at the door and another maid peered in. "Namine-san? Lunch is ready. Shall I escort you to the dining room?" I nodded thankfully.

I had forgotten how large this place was. The maid led me through several hallways, down a side stairway, through another couple of hallways, and down the main stairway. Two more maids bowed and opened the double doors to the dining room for us. "Enjoy your lunch, Namine-san," they said in unison before closing the doors behind me. I sighed and slowly walked to the long table, trying not to fidget. A butler standing by the table pulled a seat out for me to sit. Another butler quickly walked in and set a thick soup in front of me. I scrunched my nose. The soup smelled awful.

"Eat it," Hikaru ordered without looking up from his meal. I flinched at the sudden sound of his voice and slowly obeyed without a sound. It was just as bad as it smelled. I took everything I had to swallow it and not spit it out. It was thick and sticky and did not want to go down without a fight. I set my spoon down and glared at the fancy bowl. "What's wrong?"

"It's gross," I pouted without looking up from the soup.

I could almost feel Hikaru's smirk. "It'll make you feel better," Kaoru replied.

"If by feel better you mean throw up some more," I muttered.

Kaoru reached across the table. "Nami I…" I felt pain shoot through me wrist and squeaked as I yanked it back, clutching it close to me. Kaoru slowly pulled his hand back, his brows furrowed.

Hikaru set his spoon down and looked up. He held his hand out with a sigh. "Let me see it." I finally looked up at him and stared for a minute, studying his face before reluctantly reaching my left hand out. He took it in one hand and carefully turned it over to where the bruise was on my wrist. He gently stroked it with the fingertips of his other hand. His hands considerably dwarfed my own and his fingers were so long and slender compared to mine that were a little pudgy and short. I turned my head and glared out the corner of my eyes feeling flustered.

He applied pressure to mark. I winced and tried to jerk my hand back but he held onto it. "Does it still hurt?" I could feel those golden eyes on me. "N…no… it's… it's just a li… little sp… sprain," I protested feeling my face heat up as I tried not to look at him.

"Are you sure?" he asked pressing on it again. I squeezed my eyes shut and took a sharp intake of breath.

I dared a quick glance at him and saw a smirk plastered on his face. I continued glaring to the side. "No," I replied, my voice giving me away with a pitiful whimper. He let go of my hand and I brought it back close to me. "Stop it," I muttered.

"Stop what?" Hikaru teased.

Kaoru spoke up. "He's not going to bother you anymore, Nami."

I slowly looked up at him. Kaoru had an unreadable expression on his face. There was an odd mixture of hurt and sorrow along with… something else I couldn't quite place. "Stop it," I said louder, my voice breaking a little. "Stop… stop… stop being so nice to me. I was awful to you. I hit you all the time and yelled at you and… and I was so awful to you…"

Kaoru gave a small smile. "We're being nice because you are hurt and we're your friends," he replied.

I felt tears welling up again. Jeeze I hated crying. "I'm… I'm sorry," I said wiping furiously to keep the tears from falling.

Kaoru shook his head. "No, Nami, we're sorry." I looked up at him. That's what I couldn't read. It was remorse on his face. No one's ever been apologetic to me before. "Besides, we figured being so awful was your way of showing affection," Kaoru teased. I smiled and felt a choked laugh escape. I stuck my tongue out at them. "That's more like the Namie we know."

"Now eat your food," Hikaru said.

I pouted and looked back down at it. "But… but it's gross," I whined.

He smirked. "I know it is."

"Then why'd you give me it?" I asked irritably.

"I thought it would be funny." I glared and quickly reached over and snatched his bowl from him. "Hey!" he yelled trying to take it back.

I took a spoonful and sighed happily. "Mmm, gnocchi. Much better than that slop," I said sliding my bowl over towards him with a smirk. "Serves you right, you know." Hikaru pouted and had the nearby butler bring him another bowl. The rest of lunch passed pretty quietly. I yawned as I waited for the twins to finish.

Kaoru set down his spoon thoughtfully. "Are you still tired, Nami?" I nodded. "You can go back upstairs and rest some more if you want."

I shook my head. "No, I'll be fine. Besides, if I sleep too much I won't be able to focus at school tomorrow," I replied. I rested my head on my arms with another sigh. I stared at the details of the table absently picking at it with my fingernail.

Kaoru nudged Hikaru. He scratched the back of his awkwardly. "Uh, if you don't want to go home you can stay here for a while…"

I gave a small smile and shook my head. "That's sweet but I can't. I need to go home and, uh, smell the coffee as they say."

Hikaru got up and lifted me up by the arm. "Well, we'd better take you home then," he said with a grin. He turned back to the still sitting Kaoru. "Are you coming, Kaoru?"

Kaoru sat there, his eyes looking back and forth between me and Hikaru, an odd expression on his face. "No, go on ahead. I realized I still have some homework to finish," he said cheerfully with a smile.

I stared in confusion and Hikaru scowled a little before turning and leading me away. "Ok then. I'll, uh, see you later then, Kaoru." I turned slightly to wave bye. Kaoru was acting so strange today…

We stared out of the limo windows, neither of us speaking to the other the whole ride home. I was thankful, though. I didn't want to talk about yesterday. In fact, I wanted to ignore it completely and pretend it didn't happen. But I couldn't. I clenched my fist. I didn't know how to move on anymore.

"You're crying again," Hikaru said with a sigh.

I quickly wiped at my face and clutched the coat he gave me closer to me. "Shut up," I said without looking away from the snow falling down outside.

"Ok," he said with a grin. Instead of going back to looking out of the window he kept staring at me.

I sniffed and stole a glance to see him staring. I looked back to the window. After a few minutes I checked to see if he went back to looking out of the window. Nope, he was still staring with a big grin. I sighed. "What are you staring at me for?" I snapped. His grin got bigger but he didn't say anything. I slapped my face. "Oh my god… You can talk you idiot!"

He started laughing. "Your face is all red!" I went back to glaring out of the window with my arms crossed. "Aw, come on! It was funny!" I didn't acknowledge him. Hikaru sighed and his face went serious. "Are you sure you're ok?"

The limo pulled to a stop. "I'm home," I replied bluntly starting to get up to leave.

Hikaru grabbed my arm. "Nami…"

I sighed and sat back down on the seat. "What?"

"Seriously, are you going to be alright?" I didn't know how to answer so I stayed silent. "Well?"

"I don't know!" I snapped. "I… I… I just… I just don't know, ok?" He didn't say anything back. "You can let go of my arm now," I mumbled feeling flustered again. He quickly let go and I started to exit the limo. Before I shut the door I took off the coat and held it out to him. "I'll… uh… return the dress tomorrow."

He shook his head. "No, keep the coat… and the dress."

I quickly put the coat back on. "Um… Hikaru… er… Thank you. For everything," I said biting my lip. I closed the door and quickly ran up to the house. I shivered as I closed the front door against the cold winter air and rubbed my hands together.

"There you are! Where on earth have you been young lady?" Charles yelled stomping into the hallway from the sitting room.

I sighed. "Oh save it, Charles. We both know you don't really care. But if you must know, I was at the Hitachiin's."

"The Hitachiin's? THE HITACHIIN'S! What were you doing with those riffraff? Last I heard you were with that Chase fellow. I've been trying to get in touch with both of you since Friday night!" he thundered.

I brought myself to my full height (which wasn't very tall) and gave him the nastiest glare I could muster. "Riffraff? Excuse me, but just a few months ago you were arranging for me to marry one of them! And as for Chase, you won't get ahold of him anytime soon because he's in jail!" I sneered.

Charles' face turned a good three shades of red. "What do you mean he is in jail?" he replied through gritted teeth.

"Oh! WELL! Let's see now, he kidnapped me, got himself drunk even though he is underage, and to top it all off, he and his goons tried to force themselves on me. Personally, I suggest finding a way to thank the Hitachiin's profusely because otherwise I'd most likely be dead in some ditch or abandoned lot or something. Now if you don't mind, I'm going upstairs to my room because personally, I am exhausted. Good night," I finished with mock cheerfulness. He surpassed red and turned deep purple before turning around and storming back down the hall. Good, maybe he'll leave me alone now after being embarrassed like that. I wiped my face and trudged up the stairs to my room. I didn't even bother changing. I just plopped onto my bed and passed out.

Yay! I finished another chapter! :D Ugh… I'm exhausted. It's spring break but I've never been busier and in the morning I'm taking a long drive to my aunt's… Bleh… but you guys don't care about that! Hahaha. Cupcakes for everyone! It's my birthday on Monday! :D So excited. I'll update soon! Promise.