Ouran High School Host Club Fan Fiction ❯ The Solitary Twin ❯ The Word Gets Out ( Chapter 12 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: MirrorsO1984 
Anime/Manga: Ouran High School Host Club Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Hentai / Drama | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 05.29.2011 | Pages: 4 | Words: 5.4K | Visits: 608 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Ouran High School Host Club Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Hentai / Drama | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 05.29.2011 | Pages: 4 | Words: 5.4K | Visits: 608 | Status: Completed
Warnings: angst, Etsu-abuse, some Hikaru/Kaoru/Haruhi/Tamaki-abuse and random meaningless random oc abuse, occ long chapter. I kinda updated this account before my other ones in case people wondered.
Chapter 12
The demonic beings known as Hikaru and Kaoru were understandibly staying as far away as possible, but Etsu knew better than to let her guard down. Even though they hadn't spoken or approached her in nearly a week, she could feel them watching her like prey.
It bothered her of course. Not only because they were both as annoying as nails on a chalkboard, but because she felt some actual guilt for what had happened in the music room.
It wasn't my fault that they went too far with their nonsense! I needed to make them back off somehow! If they're pissed at me for what they did, they obviously need a reality check!
She hated feeling guilty for her desicions and what she didn't do with those boys had guilt come haunting her every time she heard one of them speaking from far away or even accidently saw one of them passing her in the hallway from her peripheral vision.
Why should she feel that way? Part of her reasoned that she had been too hard on them with her coldness, just as another part snappishly stated that they had a good share of the blame for fighting back so aggressively; keeping the hostility and immature game alive.
And then another problem, a problem that she was afraid of facing had risen on that particular day...
The frustrating monsters could easily overwhelm her. She wasn't overly experienced, at least not up to the level those two thought her to be, so having two beautiful sensual acting boys tempting her had briefly shut down her instinct to win with some of her beloved dignity.
It had been a major relief when Hikaru had called the game quits. Her lack of experience would have made her easy prey for them. They would have seen it as something to target, while she in the other hand knew how sick it would have been to accept doing that with them.
I have to be the sickest girl in the face of the earth. Those boys have sex with each other and almost pulled me into it for crying out loud!, She had been so scared of losing control. She wasn't supposed to give in to them or anybody. As fucked up as it was, the twins had their own relationship; which made it feel like 'condoned cheating'. She did have some rules to her own games and participating in something that made her feel as if she were an intruding meaningless whore meant to sate their curiousity was out of the question.
I should be happy that they're leaving me alone now. It's best this way. I'm not sure what could happen if they try something like that again. Every single time they 'play', they push things into dangerous territory... They make it too serious.
Having their eyes stalking her every move just reminded her how vulnerable she truly was and she loathed it because vulnerability wasn't that different from weakness and lack of self-respecting pride.
The Hitachiins had their own sick private world. A world she didn't want to participate in and though they were discomforted by her, they continued to shameless invite and yet push her away whenever she got too close.
I'm disgusting to have thought of doing that with them..., From time to time, for the last couple of days, she wondered what would Iku think of her if she knew. Though her twin had been her number one supporter when alive, she hadn't been afraid of telling her when she did something wrong.
If Iku had been alive, Mother would have already conviced her to date one of those twits. Come to think of it... Maybe none of this shit would have happened if she were here... with me.
A slight dulled pain, a sharp ache that had faded over the years, clenched her heart as she hid inside one of the stalls in Ouran's bathrooms. She had being doing that a lot lately... Hiding to think. Unfortunately thinking too much brought back harmful memories of a peaceful time that had died with her sister.
The sounds of slamming doors had her automatically lifting up her feet on the toilet seat she was sitting on, so the other girls entering didn't know she was there.
Just peacy! I can't find any peace and quiet in this fucking school! Why can't I just skip?! Oh, yeah! Mother is finally acting the way she's supposed to and keeping track of my studies! As if I want to stay here! She was way better when she didn't give a shit about what I did!
Clenching her teeth and furrowing her brow, she did her routine of ignoring other people. It barely worked since her quiet avoidant nature always made her privy of the secrets of strangers.
"I can't believe she hasn't found out that it was you that threw those eggs at her, Megumi!" a vaguely familiar voice giggled.
Etsu's eyes trembled in disbelief.
"Yeah, I know! With as creepy as she is I would have thought she had eyes on the back of her head. Anyway, what is most important is that she learned her lesson about messing with Hikaru-kun and Kaoru-kun!"
Angry over what she was overhearing, she leaned forward in hopes to hear more of the private conversation.
"I don't know why they look at her so much during class! She's not even that pretty!"
"They might be staring because she's a total slut!" her jaw dropped.
A slut?! How the fuck would they know?! I haven't been acting slutty in front of everyone, have I? Unless those assholes said something, which wouldn't make any sense since they're ten times sluttier than I am!, The fact that other people had noticed what was going on between her and the twins was enough to make anyone nervous.
"Face it! You're just mad because they're paying attention to her while they only speak with you if you're paying custumers at the club! I think you're just jealous and throwing eggs at her just shows how insecure you are!" an annoyed third voice piped in.
"Just on whose side are you on, Reiri?!"
"Nobody's side! Haven't you realized by now that the Hitachiin's don't give anybody the time of day?! The only reason they're interested in her is because she doesn't smother them with so much nauseating fanservice!"
"First off, that egg incident was because she actually hurt them! We can't let her get away with something like that!" the one named Megumi all but shouted. "And secondly-!"
"Whatever! Hearing so much about the three of them has almost made me want to stop hanging out with you! Could you just drop the subject and talk about something else, please?!"
"You're one of their custumers too, Reiri!"
"So what if I am?! That doesn't mean that they belong to me! And besides that, you two are always daydreaming about them liking you when they have never given any hints of liking anyone in Ouran! Staring at Sakoi-san? What's your deal?! They can stare at whoever they want! It's not like they're saying they have a crush on her! For all we know they're just scared of her because of that fight!"
"But you're missing our point!" the voice of the still unnamed girl spoke up.
"Have you even noticed how they look at her?! There's something definitely going on with the three of them! And by the way, they're not scared! I know that kind of look-!"
"And that makes her a slut, right?! With all of the crap you guys have in your innocent little heads, you still manage to judge every girl that so much as talks to them!?"
"Well..."
"I rest my case! Hearing the same thing over and over again has almost made me quit going to the Host Club! Even Asami and Yukiko have grown tired of it and have left the group because of you!"
"But-!"
"Bye! Talk to me when you have grown up a little! I can't believe you're nearly making me hate the twins!" the bathroom door slammed open and closed as Etsu held her breath in order to remain undetected by the two girls still inside.
She had made a huge mistake in thinking that all her problems had ended once the twins had stopped persuing her, because somehow they still caused trouble. And the staring during class... She had no idea that they had been so obvious while doing it. It wasn't like she was watching them to check how many times they did it!
Has everyone in class seen them doing this and thought the same thing?, That was mortifying. The last thing she wanted was to be the center of attention, especially that kind of attention.
Taking a deep calming breath and closing her eyes, she waited as patiently as humanly possible for her new 'victims' to leave.
"Maybe Reiri is right, Megumi..."
"I. Don't. Think. So, Emiko-chan."
Her eyes opened and a twitch quirked the corner of her lips.
I take it she wants to play.
Feeling a familiar shiver of anticipation and mingling rage, she stood up just as the girls softly murmured while leaving the bathroom. Forcing her smiling lips to thin into a mirthless line, she opened the stall she had been inside of, letting her dull eyes stare at the still swinging door the 'lambs for slaughter' had exited.
Because of those stupid bitches, I fell into the trap of those degenerates... Hikaru and Kaoru had just taken advantage of the situation they had set out for them.
Cocking her head and narrowing her eyes pensively, she thought about how long it had been since she had beaten up a girl. She wasn't ashamed of having a rather sadistic streak and neither was she embarassed of brawling when circumstances demanded it.
It's a win/win situation. I get my revenge and some added bonuses. It's dumb luck that this 'gift' has fallen on my lap...
Unable to hide her secretive glee at creating havock, she left the bathroom, fully intending on confronting those girls.
Now was perfect opportunity to show her true colors and be free of Ouran altogether. If everything turned out well, she would be expelled from the stupid place like week old trash.
***
"EAT THIS, BITCH!" Haruhi along with everyone in her class watched in gaping wonder as Sakoi Etsu viciously swung her schoolbag at a sputtering Uchino Megumi's face.
For the past half hour, in Ouran's pond, a fight worthy of the movie Gladiator had been taking place.
"She so scary!" a girl behind her gasped as Etsu grabbed the front of the dress of an anxious Kajita Emiko. Giving a fearsome battle yell, she furiously yanked the screaming girl facefirst into the pond.
What the hell has gotten into her?!, Watching the fight of the three splashing screeching girls through wide eyes, she was absolutely dumbfounded. Sakoi, judging from her cold demeanor, didn't seem to be the passionate violent type, so to see her fighting as if to actually kill her opponents proved to Haruhi that outward appearances could be deceiving.
Though she wasn't precisely a martial arts master, Etsu was good at beating the two frightened girls. With her drenched dress weighing her slender petite frame, she noisily splashed over to a crying Megumi and sloppily swung her fist.
"OWWW!" Everyone shouted sympathetically as the now bleeding girl heavily fell back on the greenish dirty water.
Haruhi was begining to think that Etsu was purposely trying to get everyone's attention in the fight. From how she had grabbed Megumi's hair out in the hallway once lunch had started to toss her into the pond outside, the girl had made it clear that she didn't care if people watched her in action. It was like she had practically announced that she was going to have a showdown.
Why would anyone in their right mind want to get in trouble? This could get her expelled!
***
"They didn't even read us our rights to an attourney or let us make a phonecall!" the sniveling blonde wailed in a corner, huddled up in his seat with his back turned towards everyone. "And why is Kyoya is taking so long in paying our bail?!" his shoulders shook in exagerated sobs.
"Tamaki-senpai, we're not in jail, we're just in the principal's waiting room," Fujioka said matter of factly.
How did I get stuck in here with these lunatics?, she hid her grimace of annoyance at having to be in a roomful of strangers, or should she say near strangers. Being wet and miserable as the principal interviewed all of the witnesses of the fight at the pond, she wished she had thought her strategy a little more carefully before executing it.
Everything hadn't come out as she had wanted. Her fight was supposed to between her and the two stupid girls that were sniveling in a couple of seats from her, not between her, them, Fujioka, the idiot guy named 'Tamaki', and the twins. The last thing she had wanted was for so many damned people to get involved in her plans to make them inevitably fail so disastrously.
When she had been about to dunk Megumi's head into the water, a voice, vaguely similar to Fujioka's started yelling about someone stopping her 'from drowning' the girl. Since no one had stepped forward and Etsu had been too busy in punishing her newest victim, Fujioka got the dumb idea that she should step in. In doing that, apparently the idiotic currently weeping blond had gotten ahead of her and tried to pull Etsu off the breathless sputtering Megumi.
That was when things had become absolute crap. All because of them. Being grabbed from behind by the unknown older boy had sent her into a panic. Everything had become a blur from then on. While she had been splashing wildly to get him to let go off her, Fujioka had been trying to help the shaken Megumi up from what could have been her 'last bath'... That was until she had been quickly sent facedown on the water when one of Etsu's flailing feet hitting her on the back by accident.
Those monsters then had to come to her rescue because of that., The twins attempted to get her away from Tamaki that had been screaming like a girl in spite of easily keeping her from running off.
That was what pissed her off about it all. Everything had been going perfectly. The rest of the students had been scared enough to stay out of it, but when it came to those other individuals...
Kaoru had grabbed her legs with some difficulty and started yelling at Tamaki to help him carry her out of the pond while Hikaru tried to help the stunned Fujioka up. Being pissed at having even more people getting into her goddamned business, she twisted her body so she could bite Tamaki's arm, making him screech hard enough to split her eardrums.
What could have been an awesome fight became more like a grotesque comedy that had the students actually laughing at them. When Tamaki had instantly released her in his pain, she fell on the pond with Kaoru still holding her wiggling legs. Embarassed about that brief moment of disgrace, she violently jerked in his hold until knocking him off.
Seeing his twin down, Hikaru immediately forgot about Haruhi and rushed to him. Thinking that everything was looking up since everyone had forgotten about her, Etsu then made the stupid mistake of believing she could pounce on Emiko to continue with her initial plan. It would have worked if it hadn't been for Fujioka yelling about her 'doing it again' which led to her being tackled by somebody she hadn't even gotten a good look at. To make things even more ridiculous in her humiliation, Tamaki started running around in circles in the pond shrieking that someone should '911'
Her idea was to get immediately expelled, not to have an almost 'school trial' for what she did. Now everyone in her classroom as well as in second year and third year classes that had seen the fight even as passersbys were being questioned about how everything had taken place. It could be hours before her punishment would be decided and she wasn't exactly a patient person.
Couldn't he just call my mother and tell her what I did and call it a day? Why am I here with these damn people?!, Pulling the wool blanket supplied to her to ward off some of the cold from the filthy pond water that soaked her uniform, her eyebrow gave a nervous little twitch.
This is stupid.
"You're a real handful, do you know that? What the heck were you thinking?" clenching her jaw at the voice that had said that, she ignored Kaoru's questions and looked blankly at the floor.
"Don't talk to her, Kaoru. You might as well be talking to a wall."
Glad you've noticed that. It was about damned time.
"I know that, but whenever she does something stupid we get in trouble for it."
Good riddance to you too.
She didn't want to look at them or show signs that she knew they were there even though they were sitting in front of her. She knew that if she gave them the attention they seemed to crave from her that they would just piss her off like they always did.
"Would you stop doing that?!" she nearly snickered at how Hikaru, the one that had been trying to tell his younger twin to ignore her, snapped when she continued her avoidance routine.
Don't exactly practice what you preach..., a snort escaped her at the irony.
"Why did the hell did you do it?! Most of all, why did you drag Megumi-chan and Emiko-chan into it?!" not seeing him, judging from the disturbance in the otherwise quiet atmosphere, she could sense that he was moving his arms a lot while yelling at her.
Not answering to annoy him further, she tightened her grip on the blanket to gain at least some warmth. The little bastard didn't seem like he was going to give up on bugging her.
"One question! Why do you keep goading her if she annoys you so much?!"
Surprised at the irritated slightly feminine voice, her head snapped up to look at Fujioka that was glaring at him.
"What... What do you mean by that, Haruhi?" for some odd reason, Hikaru appeared to be almost embarassed by having her say something like that.
That's a first., Curious about the strange behaviour he was displaying, she quietly eyed him and then studied Fujioka's annoyed face.
"You know what I mean! I don't know exactly what's going on with the three of you, but for the last couple of weeks there's a lot of hostility flying around in Ouran and that was before that fight you guys had at the maze! You two have been bugging her because of something she saw that day, aren't you?!"
Hikaru's face paled a couple of shades at her tone, or was it her words that had him suddenly show that fear?
Fuck soap operas, this is getting interesting. What is he going to say?! Is he going to screw up?!, a smirk struggled to appear on her lips, but she kept herself in check. She preffered it if Hikaru gave himself away. It could be fun for her to watch, especially since being stuck in that room with all of them had been boring until then.
"Why are you so mad, Haruhi?" Kaoru asked slowly, though he wasn't as pale as his twin.
"I'm mad because this could have been avoided! Ever since that day, weird stuff has been happening! And I'm not talking about Sakoi-san's chair or the rumor going around that mop water was thrown on her head! You two have been acting off in the club and at class!"
"Ah...," Tamaki tentatively spoke up, bringing all eyes on him. "Haruhi does have a point..."
"Yeah, but it still doesn't have anything to do with..." Kaoru trailed off as his eyes widened on Haruhi's face.
He just thought of something.
"Your scholarship."
Okay..., She didn't have any idea what they were talking about now, so she opted to ignore them once more by looking at the floor.
"You know what...? Forget I said anything. Just being here for so long brings out the worst in people. I don't even know why I got mixed up in all this...," Haruhi finally said wearily before giving a sigh of finality to the conversation.
Smart move.
"See what you just did, Etsu?"
She rolled her eyes at hearing Hikaru talking to her again.
What a pain in the ass.
"Don't roll your eyes at me?!"
"I can't believe this. I just told him to quit goading her into a fight and he goes ahead and does it anyway. Wonderful," Haruhi muttered dryly.
"It's not enough for you to insult us every freaking time you see us, but now Haruhi could be kicked out of school because of you!"
Etsu was already tuning him out. It wasn't her damned problem. She hadn't asked for them to jump into the fight. If Fujioka had a problem, she could just tell her mother to pay for her scholarship. She wasn't the giving type, but she didn't have a grudge against the girl like with the other morons there with her.
"Hikaru! Stop it already!" Kaoru admonished him in a hushed voice,
"She goes around acting like she can't be touched by anybody, when she's just pathetic and dead inside!"
Her heartbeat raced even though her features were placid.
Don't give into this nonsense!
"Look at her?! She doesn't even deny she's a bitch!"
A loud whimper that sounded like Tamaki followed his words. Apparently 'Blondie' wasn't accostumed to hearing such language.
"If I'm such a bitch, then why are you still speaking to me?" she asked smoothly, without looking at him.
Damn it! Why doesn't he just shut up?! Now I ended messing up again!
"Why?! Why?! Because you bug me, that's why!"
"That's wonderful news. Must mean I'm doing something right at least."
"Wow. That's taking bluntness to a new level," Haruhi murmured to herself.
Something that was like a combination between a growl and a hiss left the fuming boy that was probably glaring at her. At that moment she found the floor far more interesting to look at than him, so she could only guess what his expression was.
"One day you're kissing me and then the next you were kissing Kaoru right in front of my face!"
Gasps from everyone present sounded out dramatically as Etsu's heart pounded wildly.
He did not just say that shit!, Shocked out her disinterested act, she finally looked at him, gaping. Having him blurting something like that out had everyone's eyes on her as if she were some kind of new species.
"Excuse me. You're talking about immorality and bugging when you do far more disgusting things than I could ever do," her eyes hardened on his livid face as Kaoru cleared his throat to subtly interrupt what could be another unwanted revelation.
"Don't talk like you're so innocent, Etsu! You're the one that offered it and we just played along!" he retaliated back and Kaoru shrunk in his seat helplessly.
"Whoa, what's going on?!" Megumi, one of the girls that they'd all forgotten about gasped from her seat next to a frozen Emiko.
"Then it was your mistake for falling for it," she tried to smooth over her mistake, ignoring the girl that had spoken. It wasn't really her fault they had distorted her strategy of scaring them off. They should have backed off as soon as she had begun her 'seductive act'. Someone smarter would have noticed something was up when she suddenly took on that sort of attitude. Someone with more sense than them would have seen it was all an act meant to ridicule.
"It wasn't our mistake! That's what you don't get!" his face was now a bright red that amused her, since it could only mean he was about to make a fool of himself. "You started doing that to insult us, but you got off on it!"
"So did you and your girlfriend Kaoru. I bet you two had a lot of fun alone after toying with me for awhile. Like that day at the maze for instance. You seem to really like being pissed at me to drill your poor twin like that," Kaoru looked like he was about to pass out at the bit of information she had given out.
"OH, DEAR KAMI-SAMA, DID SHE JUST SAY THAT?!" Emiko shouted hysterically as Megumi shriveled in her seat. None of them spared them a glance.
Hikaru's face hardened
Here it comes.
"I don't think this is the time and place to talk about this-"
"You don't care about the people you hurt, do you?!" he cut his brother's low words.
"Not really. I don't see why I should care," his words were wounding, because in a way he was saying what she liked other people to believe of her. That she didn't care for others, only striving for what she sought no matter who she stomped on along the way. It was in her nature to do that, because it had been a long time since she had felt the need to care about the feelings of people outside of herself.
"You are a really sick girl," though his tone had lowered considerably, Hikaru's eyes showed how much he hated her for being so cold about it.
"WOULD THE TWO OF YOU CUT IT OUT ALREADY?! BECAUSE OF YOUR BIG MOUTHS EVERYBODY KNOWS!"
Stunned speechless both them stared at Kaoru.
He's finally snapped!
Panting furiously, his face beet red, Kaoru's body was tense with both fists clenched at his sides. It was obvious that he was struggling to keep himself under control. The room had become so silent in his outburst that Etsu fancied she heard a random cough echoing somewhere; like one of those coughs that only happened during embarassing moments in the movies.
"OH, NO! IT'S ARMAGEDON! THE END OF DAYS!" Tamaki screamed theartrically, suddenly jumping on Haruhi, nearly knocking her off her seat. "DEAR, DAUGHTER, HOLD ME TIGHT TILL THE END! AT LEAST WE'LL DIE TOGETHER!"
Unamused by the performance, Haruhi tried to futilely push the grabby anxious blonde away from her. "Stop it, senpai!" No one looked their way despite all of the noise they were producing.
"We were all wrong!" Kaoru continued heatedly, his body subtly trembling.
Etsu and Hikaru now began to gape at him.
"It was just a stupid game! Why can't we just forget about it?! It's not like it was all that important! Why do we keep coming back to it over and over again if it makes it so hard for us?!" this last question was directed at a disbelieving Hikaru.
"I-I...," blushing, Hikaru's eyes fleeted over the other accupants of the room, including her, much to her bad luck. Closing his lips, he again looked helplessly at his angry twin.
"There's...," Kaoru took a deep breath, closing his eyes, "There's some things that are meant to be said in private...," opening his eyes, Etsu was surprised to have him looking at her tiredly, "But I guess that's no use now, is it? Since Ouran will know everything..."
Her brows trembled. This whole time she had been worrying about getting herself purposely expelled, but now something far worse loomed overhead.
What if... What if I don't get expelled and have to go through the crap all of this will bring up?
Having people talking about her was nothing new... It shouldn't have bothered her. However, what had been told in that room in front of two particular girls that were staring wide eyed at the three of them soaking in all the information, she felt that if she didn't get out of Japan soon, her life was going to become downright nasty.
***
I kinda went 'Breakfast Club' there. If people haven't seen that movie, well... nevermind.
Mills: Hahaha!!! I've been practicing big time and to tell you the truth, it's easier than I thought, given then chemistry the twins already have. At Aurora16: Thanks for reviewing here too! I was worried about that lemon because of Kaoru playing seme and all. At llloooo: I really liked that chapter too. The conflict was truly beautiful (I love some realistic drama that pops up in fics.) Glad you like the fic! At a reviewer that sent me an email (wont say name because I'd be giving away her email): Thanks! And yes, there's a lot of smut in here, but it plays along with fic which makes it awesome. =)
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Chapter 12
The demonic beings known as Hikaru and Kaoru were understandibly staying as far away as possible, but Etsu knew better than to let her guard down. Even though they hadn't spoken or approached her in nearly a week, she could feel them watching her like prey.
It bothered her of course. Not only because they were both as annoying as nails on a chalkboard, but because she felt some actual guilt for what had happened in the music room.
It wasn't my fault that they went too far with their nonsense! I needed to make them back off somehow! If they're pissed at me for what they did, they obviously need a reality check!
She hated feeling guilty for her desicions and what she didn't do with those boys had guilt come haunting her every time she heard one of them speaking from far away or even accidently saw one of them passing her in the hallway from her peripheral vision.
Why should she feel that way? Part of her reasoned that she had been too hard on them with her coldness, just as another part snappishly stated that they had a good share of the blame for fighting back so aggressively; keeping the hostility and immature game alive.
And then another problem, a problem that she was afraid of facing had risen on that particular day...
The frustrating monsters could easily overwhelm her. She wasn't overly experienced, at least not up to the level those two thought her to be, so having two beautiful sensual acting boys tempting her had briefly shut down her instinct to win with some of her beloved dignity.
It had been a major relief when Hikaru had called the game quits. Her lack of experience would have made her easy prey for them. They would have seen it as something to target, while she in the other hand knew how sick it would have been to accept doing that with them.
I have to be the sickest girl in the face of the earth. Those boys have sex with each other and almost pulled me into it for crying out loud!, She had been so scared of losing control. She wasn't supposed to give in to them or anybody. As fucked up as it was, the twins had their own relationship; which made it feel like 'condoned cheating'. She did have some rules to her own games and participating in something that made her feel as if she were an intruding meaningless whore meant to sate their curiousity was out of the question.
I should be happy that they're leaving me alone now. It's best this way. I'm not sure what could happen if they try something like that again. Every single time they 'play', they push things into dangerous territory... They make it too serious.
Having their eyes stalking her every move just reminded her how vulnerable she truly was and she loathed it because vulnerability wasn't that different from weakness and lack of self-respecting pride.
The Hitachiins had their own sick private world. A world she didn't want to participate in and though they were discomforted by her, they continued to shameless invite and yet push her away whenever she got too close.
I'm disgusting to have thought of doing that with them..., From time to time, for the last couple of days, she wondered what would Iku think of her if she knew. Though her twin had been her number one supporter when alive, she hadn't been afraid of telling her when she did something wrong.
If Iku had been alive, Mother would have already conviced her to date one of those twits. Come to think of it... Maybe none of this shit would have happened if she were here... with me.
A slight dulled pain, a sharp ache that had faded over the years, clenched her heart as she hid inside one of the stalls in Ouran's bathrooms. She had being doing that a lot lately... Hiding to think. Unfortunately thinking too much brought back harmful memories of a peaceful time that had died with her sister.
The sounds of slamming doors had her automatically lifting up her feet on the toilet seat she was sitting on, so the other girls entering didn't know she was there.
Just peacy! I can't find any peace and quiet in this fucking school! Why can't I just skip?! Oh, yeah! Mother is finally acting the way she's supposed to and keeping track of my studies! As if I want to stay here! She was way better when she didn't give a shit about what I did!
Clenching her teeth and furrowing her brow, she did her routine of ignoring other people. It barely worked since her quiet avoidant nature always made her privy of the secrets of strangers.
"I can't believe she hasn't found out that it was you that threw those eggs at her, Megumi!" a vaguely familiar voice giggled.
Etsu's eyes trembled in disbelief.
"Yeah, I know! With as creepy as she is I would have thought she had eyes on the back of her head. Anyway, what is most important is that she learned her lesson about messing with Hikaru-kun and Kaoru-kun!"
Angry over what she was overhearing, she leaned forward in hopes to hear more of the private conversation.
"I don't know why they look at her so much during class! She's not even that pretty!"
"They might be staring because she's a total slut!" her jaw dropped.
A slut?! How the fuck would they know?! I haven't been acting slutty in front of everyone, have I? Unless those assholes said something, which wouldn't make any sense since they're ten times sluttier than I am!, The fact that other people had noticed what was going on between her and the twins was enough to make anyone nervous.
"Face it! You're just mad because they're paying attention to her while they only speak with you if you're paying custumers at the club! I think you're just jealous and throwing eggs at her just shows how insecure you are!" an annoyed third voice piped in.
"Just on whose side are you on, Reiri?!"
"Nobody's side! Haven't you realized by now that the Hitachiin's don't give anybody the time of day?! The only reason they're interested in her is because she doesn't smother them with so much nauseating fanservice!"
"First off, that egg incident was because she actually hurt them! We can't let her get away with something like that!" the one named Megumi all but shouted. "And secondly-!"
"Whatever! Hearing so much about the three of them has almost made me want to stop hanging out with you! Could you just drop the subject and talk about something else, please?!"
"You're one of their custumers too, Reiri!"
"So what if I am?! That doesn't mean that they belong to me! And besides that, you two are always daydreaming about them liking you when they have never given any hints of liking anyone in Ouran! Staring at Sakoi-san? What's your deal?! They can stare at whoever they want! It's not like they're saying they have a crush on her! For all we know they're just scared of her because of that fight!"
"But you're missing our point!" the voice of the still unnamed girl spoke up.
"Have you even noticed how they look at her?! There's something definitely going on with the three of them! And by the way, they're not scared! I know that kind of look-!"
"And that makes her a slut, right?! With all of the crap you guys have in your innocent little heads, you still manage to judge every girl that so much as talks to them!?"
"Well..."
"I rest my case! Hearing the same thing over and over again has almost made me quit going to the Host Club! Even Asami and Yukiko have grown tired of it and have left the group because of you!"
"But-!"
"Bye! Talk to me when you have grown up a little! I can't believe you're nearly making me hate the twins!" the bathroom door slammed open and closed as Etsu held her breath in order to remain undetected by the two girls still inside.
She had made a huge mistake in thinking that all her problems had ended once the twins had stopped persuing her, because somehow they still caused trouble. And the staring during class... She had no idea that they had been so obvious while doing it. It wasn't like she was watching them to check how many times they did it!
Has everyone in class seen them doing this and thought the same thing?, That was mortifying. The last thing she wanted was to be the center of attention, especially that kind of attention.
Taking a deep calming breath and closing her eyes, she waited as patiently as humanly possible for her new 'victims' to leave.
"Maybe Reiri is right, Megumi..."
"I. Don't. Think. So, Emiko-chan."
Her eyes opened and a twitch quirked the corner of her lips.
I take it she wants to play.
Feeling a familiar shiver of anticipation and mingling rage, she stood up just as the girls softly murmured while leaving the bathroom. Forcing her smiling lips to thin into a mirthless line, she opened the stall she had been inside of, letting her dull eyes stare at the still swinging door the 'lambs for slaughter' had exited.
Because of those stupid bitches, I fell into the trap of those degenerates... Hikaru and Kaoru had just taken advantage of the situation they had set out for them.
Cocking her head and narrowing her eyes pensively, she thought about how long it had been since she had beaten up a girl. She wasn't ashamed of having a rather sadistic streak and neither was she embarassed of brawling when circumstances demanded it.
It's a win/win situation. I get my revenge and some added bonuses. It's dumb luck that this 'gift' has fallen on my lap...
Unable to hide her secretive glee at creating havock, she left the bathroom, fully intending on confronting those girls.
Now was perfect opportunity to show her true colors and be free of Ouran altogether. If everything turned out well, she would be expelled from the stupid place like week old trash.
***
"EAT THIS, BITCH!" Haruhi along with everyone in her class watched in gaping wonder as Sakoi Etsu viciously swung her schoolbag at a sputtering Uchino Megumi's face.
For the past half hour, in Ouran's pond, a fight worthy of the movie Gladiator had been taking place.
"She so scary!" a girl behind her gasped as Etsu grabbed the front of the dress of an anxious Kajita Emiko. Giving a fearsome battle yell, she furiously yanked the screaming girl facefirst into the pond.
What the hell has gotten into her?!, Watching the fight of the three splashing screeching girls through wide eyes, she was absolutely dumbfounded. Sakoi, judging from her cold demeanor, didn't seem to be the passionate violent type, so to see her fighting as if to actually kill her opponents proved to Haruhi that outward appearances could be deceiving.
Though she wasn't precisely a martial arts master, Etsu was good at beating the two frightened girls. With her drenched dress weighing her slender petite frame, she noisily splashed over to a crying Megumi and sloppily swung her fist.
"OWWW!" Everyone shouted sympathetically as the now bleeding girl heavily fell back on the greenish dirty water.
Haruhi was begining to think that Etsu was purposely trying to get everyone's attention in the fight. From how she had grabbed Megumi's hair out in the hallway once lunch had started to toss her into the pond outside, the girl had made it clear that she didn't care if people watched her in action. It was like she had practically announced that she was going to have a showdown.
Why would anyone in their right mind want to get in trouble? This could get her expelled!
***
"They didn't even read us our rights to an attourney or let us make a phonecall!" the sniveling blonde wailed in a corner, huddled up in his seat with his back turned towards everyone. "And why is Kyoya is taking so long in paying our bail?!" his shoulders shook in exagerated sobs.
"Tamaki-senpai, we're not in jail, we're just in the principal's waiting room," Fujioka said matter of factly.
How did I get stuck in here with these lunatics?, she hid her grimace of annoyance at having to be in a roomful of strangers, or should she say near strangers. Being wet and miserable as the principal interviewed all of the witnesses of the fight at the pond, she wished she had thought her strategy a little more carefully before executing it.
Everything hadn't come out as she had wanted. Her fight was supposed to between her and the two stupid girls that were sniveling in a couple of seats from her, not between her, them, Fujioka, the idiot guy named 'Tamaki', and the twins. The last thing she had wanted was for so many damned people to get involved in her plans to make them inevitably fail so disastrously.
When she had been about to dunk Megumi's head into the water, a voice, vaguely similar to Fujioka's started yelling about someone stopping her 'from drowning' the girl. Since no one had stepped forward and Etsu had been too busy in punishing her newest victim, Fujioka got the dumb idea that she should step in. In doing that, apparently the idiotic currently weeping blond had gotten ahead of her and tried to pull Etsu off the breathless sputtering Megumi.
That was when things had become absolute crap. All because of them. Being grabbed from behind by the unknown older boy had sent her into a panic. Everything had become a blur from then on. While she had been splashing wildly to get him to let go off her, Fujioka had been trying to help the shaken Megumi up from what could have been her 'last bath'... That was until she had been quickly sent facedown on the water when one of Etsu's flailing feet hitting her on the back by accident.
Those monsters then had to come to her rescue because of that., The twins attempted to get her away from Tamaki that had been screaming like a girl in spite of easily keeping her from running off.
That was what pissed her off about it all. Everything had been going perfectly. The rest of the students had been scared enough to stay out of it, but when it came to those other individuals...
Kaoru had grabbed her legs with some difficulty and started yelling at Tamaki to help him carry her out of the pond while Hikaru tried to help the stunned Fujioka up. Being pissed at having even more people getting into her goddamned business, she twisted her body so she could bite Tamaki's arm, making him screech hard enough to split her eardrums.
What could have been an awesome fight became more like a grotesque comedy that had the students actually laughing at them. When Tamaki had instantly released her in his pain, she fell on the pond with Kaoru still holding her wiggling legs. Embarassed about that brief moment of disgrace, she violently jerked in his hold until knocking him off.
Seeing his twin down, Hikaru immediately forgot about Haruhi and rushed to him. Thinking that everything was looking up since everyone had forgotten about her, Etsu then made the stupid mistake of believing she could pounce on Emiko to continue with her initial plan. It would have worked if it hadn't been for Fujioka yelling about her 'doing it again' which led to her being tackled by somebody she hadn't even gotten a good look at. To make things even more ridiculous in her humiliation, Tamaki started running around in circles in the pond shrieking that someone should '911'
Her idea was to get immediately expelled, not to have an almost 'school trial' for what she did. Now everyone in her classroom as well as in second year and third year classes that had seen the fight even as passersbys were being questioned about how everything had taken place. It could be hours before her punishment would be decided and she wasn't exactly a patient person.
Couldn't he just call my mother and tell her what I did and call it a day? Why am I here with these damn people?!, Pulling the wool blanket supplied to her to ward off some of the cold from the filthy pond water that soaked her uniform, her eyebrow gave a nervous little twitch.
This is stupid.
"You're a real handful, do you know that? What the heck were you thinking?" clenching her jaw at the voice that had said that, she ignored Kaoru's questions and looked blankly at the floor.
"Don't talk to her, Kaoru. You might as well be talking to a wall."
Glad you've noticed that. It was about damned time.
"I know that, but whenever she does something stupid we get in trouble for it."
Good riddance to you too.
She didn't want to look at them or show signs that she knew they were there even though they were sitting in front of her. She knew that if she gave them the attention they seemed to crave from her that they would just piss her off like they always did.
"Would you stop doing that?!" she nearly snickered at how Hikaru, the one that had been trying to tell his younger twin to ignore her, snapped when she continued her avoidance routine.
Don't exactly practice what you preach..., a snort escaped her at the irony.
"Why did the hell did you do it?! Most of all, why did you drag Megumi-chan and Emiko-chan into it?!" not seeing him, judging from the disturbance in the otherwise quiet atmosphere, she could sense that he was moving his arms a lot while yelling at her.
Not answering to annoy him further, she tightened her grip on the blanket to gain at least some warmth. The little bastard didn't seem like he was going to give up on bugging her.
"One question! Why do you keep goading her if she annoys you so much?!"
Surprised at the irritated slightly feminine voice, her head snapped up to look at Fujioka that was glaring at him.
"What... What do you mean by that, Haruhi?" for some odd reason, Hikaru appeared to be almost embarassed by having her say something like that.
That's a first., Curious about the strange behaviour he was displaying, she quietly eyed him and then studied Fujioka's annoyed face.
"You know what I mean! I don't know exactly what's going on with the three of you, but for the last couple of weeks there's a lot of hostility flying around in Ouran and that was before that fight you guys had at the maze! You two have been bugging her because of something she saw that day, aren't you?!"
Hikaru's face paled a couple of shades at her tone, or was it her words that had him suddenly show that fear?
Fuck soap operas, this is getting interesting. What is he going to say?! Is he going to screw up?!, a smirk struggled to appear on her lips, but she kept herself in check. She preffered it if Hikaru gave himself away. It could be fun for her to watch, especially since being stuck in that room with all of them had been boring until then.
"Why are you so mad, Haruhi?" Kaoru asked slowly, though he wasn't as pale as his twin.
"I'm mad because this could have been avoided! Ever since that day, weird stuff has been happening! And I'm not talking about Sakoi-san's chair or the rumor going around that mop water was thrown on her head! You two have been acting off in the club and at class!"
"Ah...," Tamaki tentatively spoke up, bringing all eyes on him. "Haruhi does have a point..."
"Yeah, but it still doesn't have anything to do with..." Kaoru trailed off as his eyes widened on Haruhi's face.
He just thought of something.
"Your scholarship."
Okay..., She didn't have any idea what they were talking about now, so she opted to ignore them once more by looking at the floor.
"You know what...? Forget I said anything. Just being here for so long brings out the worst in people. I don't even know why I got mixed up in all this...," Haruhi finally said wearily before giving a sigh of finality to the conversation.
Smart move.
"See what you just did, Etsu?"
She rolled her eyes at hearing Hikaru talking to her again.
What a pain in the ass.
"Don't roll your eyes at me?!"
"I can't believe this. I just told him to quit goading her into a fight and he goes ahead and does it anyway. Wonderful," Haruhi muttered dryly.
"It's not enough for you to insult us every freaking time you see us, but now Haruhi could be kicked out of school because of you!"
Etsu was already tuning him out. It wasn't her damned problem. She hadn't asked for them to jump into the fight. If Fujioka had a problem, she could just tell her mother to pay for her scholarship. She wasn't the giving type, but she didn't have a grudge against the girl like with the other morons there with her.
"Hikaru! Stop it already!" Kaoru admonished him in a hushed voice,
"She goes around acting like she can't be touched by anybody, when she's just pathetic and dead inside!"
Her heartbeat raced even though her features were placid.
Don't give into this nonsense!
"Look at her?! She doesn't even deny she's a bitch!"
A loud whimper that sounded like Tamaki followed his words. Apparently 'Blondie' wasn't accostumed to hearing such language.
"If I'm such a bitch, then why are you still speaking to me?" she asked smoothly, without looking at him.
Damn it! Why doesn't he just shut up?! Now I ended messing up again!
"Why?! Why?! Because you bug me, that's why!"
"That's wonderful news. Must mean I'm doing something right at least."
"Wow. That's taking bluntness to a new level," Haruhi murmured to herself.
Something that was like a combination between a growl and a hiss left the fuming boy that was probably glaring at her. At that moment she found the floor far more interesting to look at than him, so she could only guess what his expression was.
"One day you're kissing me and then the next you were kissing Kaoru right in front of my face!"
Gasps from everyone present sounded out dramatically as Etsu's heart pounded wildly.
He did not just say that shit!, Shocked out her disinterested act, she finally looked at him, gaping. Having him blurting something like that out had everyone's eyes on her as if she were some kind of new species.
"Excuse me. You're talking about immorality and bugging when you do far more disgusting things than I could ever do," her eyes hardened on his livid face as Kaoru cleared his throat to subtly interrupt what could be another unwanted revelation.
"Don't talk like you're so innocent, Etsu! You're the one that offered it and we just played along!" he retaliated back and Kaoru shrunk in his seat helplessly.
"Whoa, what's going on?!" Megumi, one of the girls that they'd all forgotten about gasped from her seat next to a frozen Emiko.
"Then it was your mistake for falling for it," she tried to smooth over her mistake, ignoring the girl that had spoken. It wasn't really her fault they had distorted her strategy of scaring them off. They should have backed off as soon as she had begun her 'seductive act'. Someone smarter would have noticed something was up when she suddenly took on that sort of attitude. Someone with more sense than them would have seen it was all an act meant to ridicule.
"It wasn't our mistake! That's what you don't get!" his face was now a bright red that amused her, since it could only mean he was about to make a fool of himself. "You started doing that to insult us, but you got off on it!"
"So did you and your girlfriend Kaoru. I bet you two had a lot of fun alone after toying with me for awhile. Like that day at the maze for instance. You seem to really like being pissed at me to drill your poor twin like that," Kaoru looked like he was about to pass out at the bit of information she had given out.
"OH, DEAR KAMI-SAMA, DID SHE JUST SAY THAT?!" Emiko shouted hysterically as Megumi shriveled in her seat. None of them spared them a glance.
Hikaru's face hardened
Here it comes.
"I don't think this is the time and place to talk about this-"
"You don't care about the people you hurt, do you?!" he cut his brother's low words.
"Not really. I don't see why I should care," his words were wounding, because in a way he was saying what she liked other people to believe of her. That she didn't care for others, only striving for what she sought no matter who she stomped on along the way. It was in her nature to do that, because it had been a long time since she had felt the need to care about the feelings of people outside of herself.
"You are a really sick girl," though his tone had lowered considerably, Hikaru's eyes showed how much he hated her for being so cold about it.
"WOULD THE TWO OF YOU CUT IT OUT ALREADY?! BECAUSE OF YOUR BIG MOUTHS EVERYBODY KNOWS!"
Stunned speechless both them stared at Kaoru.
He's finally snapped!
Panting furiously, his face beet red, Kaoru's body was tense with both fists clenched at his sides. It was obvious that he was struggling to keep himself under control. The room had become so silent in his outburst that Etsu fancied she heard a random cough echoing somewhere; like one of those coughs that only happened during embarassing moments in the movies.
"OH, NO! IT'S ARMAGEDON! THE END OF DAYS!" Tamaki screamed theartrically, suddenly jumping on Haruhi, nearly knocking her off her seat. "DEAR, DAUGHTER, HOLD ME TIGHT TILL THE END! AT LEAST WE'LL DIE TOGETHER!"
Unamused by the performance, Haruhi tried to futilely push the grabby anxious blonde away from her. "Stop it, senpai!" No one looked their way despite all of the noise they were producing.
"We were all wrong!" Kaoru continued heatedly, his body subtly trembling.
Etsu and Hikaru now began to gape at him.
"It was just a stupid game! Why can't we just forget about it?! It's not like it was all that important! Why do we keep coming back to it over and over again if it makes it so hard for us?!" this last question was directed at a disbelieving Hikaru.
"I-I...," blushing, Hikaru's eyes fleeted over the other accupants of the room, including her, much to her bad luck. Closing his lips, he again looked helplessly at his angry twin.
"There's...," Kaoru took a deep breath, closing his eyes, "There's some things that are meant to be said in private...," opening his eyes, Etsu was surprised to have him looking at her tiredly, "But I guess that's no use now, is it? Since Ouran will know everything..."
Her brows trembled. This whole time she had been worrying about getting herself purposely expelled, but now something far worse loomed overhead.
What if... What if I don't get expelled and have to go through the crap all of this will bring up?
Having people talking about her was nothing new... It shouldn't have bothered her. However, what had been told in that room in front of two particular girls that were staring wide eyed at the three of them soaking in all the information, she felt that if she didn't get out of Japan soon, her life was going to become downright nasty.
***
I kinda went 'Breakfast Club' there. If people haven't seen that movie, well... nevermind.
Mills: Hahaha!!! I've been practicing big time and to tell you the truth, it's easier than I thought, given then chemistry the twins already have. At Aurora16: Thanks for reviewing here too! I was worried about that lemon because of Kaoru playing seme and all. At llloooo: I really liked that chapter too. The conflict was truly beautiful (I love some realistic drama that pops up in fics.) Glad you like the fic! At a reviewer that sent me an email (wont say name because I'd be giving away her email): Thanks! And yes, there's a lot of smut in here, but it plays along with fic which makes it awesome. =)
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