don't even tell me how late I am because I already know.

BUT YOU DIDN'T EXPECT THIS, DID YOU???!?

it's been a year (over a year, actually), and I've fallen out of both these fandoms. I'm fifteen now, not thirteen. ...wow. here I am though, still running. I actually lost my motivation a long while back, as you can see... but now I'm here, a nice bit of motivation to keep me up.

truly sorry that it took a year, seven heartbreaks, and a midlife crisis to finally get some.

I... have nothing left to say but that. oh, if you compare my writing to the previous chapter, you'll see tremendous improvement, no? or maybe it's just me...

thanks for sticking with me. I said I'd be finishing this story, and I thought that I should still live up to my promises, no matter how late I am.

I want to at least keep this promise, at least. to see the end of this book.

KIMI, RM, AL, PURPLE, BRIEH, MIMI, WHOOPS, THIS IS FOR YOU!! I LOVE YOU!! AND I'M SORRY FOR EVERYTHING I'VE DONE! DON'T FORGIVE ME!

(will be edited in the morning. I just couldn't wait to get this out and surprise you guys. oh, and you forgot what happened, it'd be best if you revisited the previous chapter.)

and please don't ask where the next chapter is... I've recently just gotten my motivation back, I don't need it to fizzle out before the heat can really begin.

THE RESTAURANT WAS STUFFY. Perhaps it was just the cheap air conditioner but being sandwiched between Mori and Honey-senpai didn't exactly help her case. It was like a fever dream, now she even got into this situation.

She honestly had no idea what on earth possessed the club to start driving like godspeed down the highway like their back trunk was on fire, but, well... There they were, in a restaurant, of all places. She remembered how they had suddenly parked into their driveway (how they got into a gated residence of all places was beyond her, but she knew better than to question it). 

That shiny white limousine sparkled in the sunlight. The Hitachiins popped out first, whistling.

"Wow, this place never gets old."

Natsu had bolted into her balcony, first time hopping out in days. The harsh sunlight blinded her bleary eyes. "What the—! What are you guys doing here?! What did I just tell you?!"

The girl made eye-contact with Haruhi, who wore a truly sorry expression. Natsu felt sorry for herself as well. Unnecessary was what thai was. Absolutely unnecessary. She gasped as the twins frolicked across her yard— Jesus Christ, Subaru had worked very hard on mowing that lawn. 

"Sorry, direct orders from the boss!"

They didn't look the least bit sorry. Natsu hollered when she saw them haul out— Were those grappling hooks? Where in God's name did they even acquire those?

Honey-senpai was bounding across the grass with the most carefree smile she had ever seen. "No, No! Nacchan, just hop down! I'm sure Takashi will catch you! Isn't that right?"

" ...I'll sure try."

Wow.

Flustered, she hollered, "Stop. Stop! Okay, okay, just don't alert my brothers. Please. I'll come with you already." 

"Look at you." Kyoya pushed up his glasses, looking up. "It's not every day we do this. Though it seems you are a special case... Being such good friends with Honey and Mori-senpai— Well, I suppose it's the least we could do."

"Stop. Don't come up here! I'll come down, alright, alright?"

Which was how she found herself inside of a limousine, fancy as hell, had to cost even more than her tuition. And then her stomach made an embarrassing squelch, and then Tamaki-senpai said he couldn't just let her starve or whatever. 

"You guys are aware that this was just breaking and entering... and kidnapping, right?"

"Oh, Natsu," Kyoya laughed in that particular enigmatic way only he could possess, "I have no doubts that you would have had your way if you willed it."

She nodded weakly, not sure how to feel.

"Aw, look, He's all red," Hikaru leaned over the leather seats to lightly pinch her cheek. She squirmed as he did. 

"Oh please, give the guy a break," Haruhi rolled her eyes. 

"Haruhi, you're the only one that cares for me here."

"What? That's blatant favoritism!" The twins cried together.

"That's good that you're smiling now," Tamaki, who sat beside her, commented softly, "You look... you look better than the other night. I'm glad everything is okay." It was a moment of genuineness from him, a moment she had never witnessed before.

"More or less," She shrugged, secretly thankful.

By then, they were in the suburbs of Tokyo, on their way to Haruhi's house— Because of course, that was a perfect place to meet up. Apparently, the club let out early on Fridays, and they were heading to her house anyways, so... Haruhi's house. It was what Tamaki decided on, anyway.

Until Natsu's stomach made that noise, so loud and embarrassing it just couldn't be ignored, and she knew she had dug herself into some kind of pit. 

The limousine was silent. 

"Say, when's the last time you ate?" Honey-senpai asked her. Those big eyes peered at her curiously. 

She laughed sheepishly. "Not in a good while, no. But if you bring me back home, I can definitely eat my food and—"

"Nonsense!" Tamaki stuck his arm in the air. "You are our guest, even if you may not feel like it! Now, gentlemen! We will be making a detour, where is the nearest eatery in our location?!"

A quaint little Ramen shop, it turned out.

And that was where they were, at a table made for an entire family, except it was all them, they were the family. The Ramen shop was small but quaint, the busy hum of the customers and staff filling the atmosphere.

Honey-senpai was busy taking a shot at cracking open his Ramune bottle. Apparently, the Club had never come in contact with any of those before. Thus, everyone needed to drink one. Tamaki had remarked how Commoners were quite creative! as he pushed his little marble down, the bottle fizzy with bubbles.

It was quite hilarious to see a group of teenagers so enamored with a marble. But, she had more pressing matters to deal with at the moment. 

Natsu cleared her throat. "So."

"So?"

Oh, please, they tried to act so innocently. "So, why did you guys take me here? Not that I don't appreciate it, cause I do! But, uh..."

Haruhi smiled at her. "To be honest, it was all Honey-senpai's idea. We wanted to see how you were doing..."

Mori-senpai set his chopsticks down onto the table. "We're worried." 

"About you. Are you alright?" The twins leaned onto the table, "I mean, you look kind of... uh, half-dead. Those, uh, eye bags..."

That obvious, huh?

"I haven't been getting much sleep," Is what she settled on saying.

"Because we're worried, we wanted to ask you. What happened on that night?" Kyoya rested his chin on the palm of his hand. "You've been doing a swell job at hiding that cut on your cheek. Even so, did you think I wouldn't notice?"

"He— Hey.."

Honey nearly lept out of his chair, gasping. "What scar?!"

Mori-senpai, who hadn't said much that whole time, leaned over and tilted her chin towards him. She inhaled sharply as his fingers brushed away a stray lock of dark hair to reveal a single sharp line on her cheekbone. It was scabbed over by now, but it was still long and deep, a small reminder of when Ukyo's ring caught her skin as he slapped her.

"Hey... Mori-senpai..."

"Who did this?" His voice, usually a deep and quiet hum, was now alive this sort of anger that she had never seen before. She didn't answer, even as he brushed a single knuckle against that scar, as gentle as humanly possible. "Natsu."

"I..." She was torn between the truth or a lie. Natsu made eye contact with Tamaki, a small little plea, but he only shook his head. 

"It's your choice. But I'm sure none of us will be prying if he doesn't want to tell us, right, gentlemen?"

The twins huffed, eyeing him. "You're only saying that because you already know what happened, don't you, boss?"

The blond gasped, affronted. "Well! I don't, actually! Not the whole story, anyways! But even if I did, it really wouldn't be chivalric at all if I out of all people were to tell a secret that isn't mine to tell—! Can't you see I'm trying to set an example—?!"

Natsu brought Mori's hand away, watching Tamaki flounder around like a fish. She sighed deeply, tracing her scarred cheek. "It's... my brother. Ukyo."

"You can't be serious. He really did that to you?!" Haruhi gasped, "Why?!"

"You guys remember him, right? The... uh, the blonde one, with slicked hair?"

"Oh, the ugly one."

"Hikaru, you can't just say that. Don't you know?" Kaoru elbowed his brother. "How can we even tell them apart? They're all ugly?"

"I literally hate the fact that their personalities are the actual opposites of their pristine exteriors. Hidden behind that porcelain skin are snakes. Uh, no offense, Natsu."

"Oh, none taken, I assure you."

"Nacchan's brothers are meanies." Honey-senpai crossed his arms and pouted. "Meanies don't deserve sharp jawlines! Or porcelain skin!"

Haruhi stared choking on her drink, coughing and sputtering. Kyoya handed her a napkin, both parts concerned and amused. Now, people were starting to stare at the vivacious group of teenagers in the middle of the Ramen restaurant, so that was their cue to pay the bill and leave.

"Where is your mother? Your parents?" Kyoya frowned, while they were still on the road, scribbling (did he ever scribble? It was very unlike him) something down in his notebook. "Does she not know a single thing?"

"Honeymoon in Okinawa." She sighed. "Do you know what telling anyone would do? It would split this family apart, and my mother and Rintarou— Ema's father— just got married, I am not doing anything."

Never mind that the family was already split, thirteen against one.

"He slapped you!" Tamaki cried, taking her by the shoulders. "What kind of monster slaps his brother?!"

"So I'll let you slap him back!" Natsu hollered with equal volume, "But no one is telling my mother."

"Wait, really?" 

"I'm kind of leaning towards yes. Let's hold that thought." 

She leaned back into her chair, fiddling with the hem of her shirt. Natsu never really liked it, that feeling of being... What was the word? Being vulnerable. It was a weird feeling, foreign and strange to her.

She was whispering now, "That's not the worst of it."

The twins gave her the side-eye. "So... We don't like where this is going already."

Natsu brushed a hand through her black hair, now long enough to tickle the back of her neck. She pursed her lips, debating on whether to actually tell them or not, the entire story. "That night I called Tamaki... That evening, actually, Ema and I went shopping, so we— Ukyo told us to, so—"

In her hesitation, Honey-senpai brought forward a hand and placed it on top of hers. "You know we're all here for you, right? Not just me and Takashi, but the whole club."

It was a moment of great sincerity unlike any other she had witnessed from him before. "Thank you." She really meant it. 

Exhaling shakily, she swallowed the lump in her throat. "A girl... A friend's friend. She followed us. And she was, I don't know how it happened. I just turned my back for a few minutes, I swear it was only a few minutes... And she was there. She was holding scissors." 

Haruhi furrowed her brows with concern. "Don't tell me you got attacked by your sister?"

"Not E-Ema, I mean, but this other girl I knew..." Natsu was working herself up into a big ball of distress. "And God, if I just hadn't left Ema alone— There was a lot of blood, alright? I and it was spilling out of Ema's arm, it was twisted in such a way—"

Honey gasped, whispering morbidly, as if he were afraid of uttering out loud, "That... really happened, Nacchan?"

"I'm sorry." She was choking up now, latching on to him as if he was a lifeline, "It wasn't my fault. I promise it wasn't. I— I didn't even want to go out anyway."

"Oh, Natsu... we're so sorry."

"We have to find that girl!"

"She should be behind bars?! That is an actual crime!"

"Ukyo made me do it, I didn't have anything to do with it. I didn't know it would happen, I swear I didn't—"

"Hey, look at me," Haruhi coaxed, reaching across the seats, "You're saying it's not your fault, which it isn't, but you're apologizing. It's alright. We don't blame you."

"A-Ah... I see..."

"The way I see it, the only person in need of an apology is you." Kyoya was gripping his book. "Shouldn't you have come to the authorities? Why didn't you do that?"

"Kyoya-senpai, I don't think now is the perfect time to be asking these questions—"

"I don't know," Natsu stammered, looking up at him, "My house was closer, so I panicked and hurried home with Ema in my arms, where..."

"Where your brothers found you," Mori muttered, his eyes narrowed angrily. Even for him, that was a bit much.

"That's right. Sorry I dragged you guys into this, by the way. God, I feel so miserable." Natsu sighed and leaned into the car seat. She sunk her face into her hands. It was exhausting to live this sort of lifestyle.

Her voice cracked when she spoke, a defeated and watery kind of thing. "This may or may not be a cry for help."

Hikaru exchanged very dubious glances with Kaoru. "About time. You always act so unbothered, but it's about time you asked for help."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You're talking to the top one percent of society. Hello? Oh, and Haruhi too, I guess."

"Hey..."

"We can definitely help you get out of this situation. Just say the word!" Tamaki clenched his fists, grasping her by the shoulders, "We can be of use to you. Let us be of use to you."

Was he really asking for this?

"And you'll..." Natsu's eyes flicked to his hands, to his earnest face, "If I say yes, would you really help me? No... No fees, right?"

She almost didn't want to believe it.

"If I wanted to charge you," Kyoya told her in a scarily promising manner, "Trust me, I would have figured out a way to do it much earlier."

Comforting. "Gee, thanks."

"So, what do you say?" Honey-senpai was looking at her with pleading eyes, determined eyes. 

"I... Okay." She gave his small hand a squeeze, "Please help me."

Kyoya snapped his notebook closed, donning a perfect businessman smile that scared her, more than anything. "Wonderful. We wouldn't have accepted no for an answer anyways."