24A/N: I'm back! Thank you for reading this chapter and make sure to fave, follow, and/or review!
One Month Later
"Kiyomi! You're back!" The entire Host Club greeted me. Honey jumped up and hugged me hard, and Tamaki wailed in glee, almost like a walrus.
"Oh, my, Kiyomi, we've been lonely without you! God, it's so hollow in here with no music playing and only Tamaki talking very loudly," Haruhi said. I laughed; Haruhi was as always. While Kyoya only smirked at me and went back to pushing buttons on his calculator, I attracted little attention from Mori after he had pried Honey off of me.
Both twins still looked the same.
If you can't even tell the difference, why can you like one more than the other? My mind told me. It was true, I did like Hikaru more than Kaoru for some reason. And Kaoru seemed nicer than Hikaru too, I suppose it was somewhat bizarre that I preferred one.
"Kiyomi, we missed your piano playing!" Both the twins yelled simultaneously, both grabbing a side of Haruhi, much to her dismay.
"Oh yeah, which twin is which again?" I asked. To cover it up from any suspicion, I added, "My memory and senses are a bit hazy. I hit the part of my brain that regulates memories and the five senses."
"Guess, it's not haaaard," They put emphasis on "hard".
I looked to the floor and smiled with my teeth. I had to try my best to guess which was which, because no one else at this point could. "Well? What's your guess?" One of them spoke.
"Yeah, yeah, can we know?" The other insisted that I talk.
I noticed in just the slightest that one of their voices was higher.
The only thing was, I didn't know which was which.
"Uh. Right twin. Are you Hikaru?" I said hesitatingly. The right one relaxed his shoulders, and smiled, his eyes in awe. I quickly looked away, and felt my face starting to burn up.
"You're so good at this game, Kiyomi-chan!" Hikaru said. "How do you guess us right so often?"
He had a deeper and smoother voice than Kaoru, but only slightly.
"It's always been guessing. I can't really tell you apart, I guess I can just assume things correctly sometimes," I rubbed the nape of my neck, a slight blush blooming over my cheeks. I tried to avoid eye contact with him.
"You're so awesome, Kiyomi-chan!" Honey exclaimed, and giggled. He was so small. And Mori, his protector, seemed to be more gentler than him. I wondered if things would be a storm if someone were to anger him. Never judge a book by its cover, after all.
I laughed, and went back to playing my piece while the Hosts chatted. Talent was something I had acquired, and I was determined to use it to my fullest ability, especially since I was gone for so long. My mother had bitter reactions once the nurse had told her of my concussion.
"It's really bad. Please keep her away from noise or light for about 3 weeks. She won't be able to make up school or play piano, I'm sorry. What happened?" The nurse asked.
"She fell. I'm sorry I sent her to school," My mother had said 'sorry' as if she were kidding. It wasn't much of a surprise.
Once I got home, all she did was go upstairs and lay on her bed. I was expected to change and lay down by myself, even though the nurse told me I needed help walking. I took step by step upstairs and though exhausting, I got up to my room. Painfully taking off my dress, I looked at myself in the mirror with my undergarments on.
Flecks of purple and blue were scattered across my stomach and back, one painted below my collarbone, just below where the collar of my dress would be. There were a few on my wrists, my legs, and some on my thighs. I ran my finger tenderly across one below my rib, the one where she hit before I got my concussion. It was sore, but I pressed my finger against it hard as if it would go away.
But it didn't. And as I looked up into the mirror, I saw myself. There were two versions of me: a happy one, and a scared one.
One was normal. Average. Not standing out but not disappearing completely. As pretty as she could be.
The other was scared. Beyond terrified. Sad. Panicked of where to go or what to do, prepared for flightless escape at those moments.
Why did I not have the strength to tell anyone?
Why was I scared?
Why did my mother abuse me?
Why did Yuto, Yuto the drunkard and the one who cheated on my mother, stare me down like I was some slab of meat? Sometimes, he'd go into my room, and shut the door behind me while Mother was out. All the while, I think I hurt the most with him. He had hungry eyes and greedy hands. He was a man of 40 years, not 17. He was not obligated to do those things to me. I didn't want to let him.
"Kiyomi, won't you pose for me?"
I bit my lip and put a shirt and pants on.
"Kiyomi, are you okay? You're shaking," Haruhi said. I looked up, noticing I wasn't playing. "Is your concussion fully healed?"
"Of course it is. I'm okay. Don't worry, Haruhi," I replied. She looked at me, with a glint of concern in her eyes.
"If you need anything, it's okay, we're here," She said and smiled. "Anyways, have fun, I have to talk to my clientele."
I sighed.
Would I ever have the courage to tell anyone? That my mother beat me and hit me? That her boyfriend slept with multiple girls and tried to strip her own daughter? What would they do to to me? They would send me to a home, my father wouldn't want me.
I'm worthless, after all.
Just like Mother says.
I went back to playing piano, until I heard someone, namely Hikaru, say, "What's wrong with having a crush?"
"But you have me...Hikaru...didn't you forget?" Kaoru said, caressing the other twin's cheek and frowning slightly.
"And you do...but..." Hikaru held Kaoru back. "She's the one. I-I love you...though!" Fangirls swooned and I was annoyed.
Annoyed as much that I yelled, "You love a person other than Kaoru? I'm surprised!" I laughed haughtily. I had a big urge to bite my lip and run, but I stood there sweating bullets as he took an angry glance towards me.
One eyebrow raised, Hikaru looked back towards me, "What, are you disappointed it's not you that you're being annoying like that all of a sudden?"
"Annoying? I'm not your mirror, you reckless...b-brat!" I smirked with my eye slightly twitching.
"What did you just say? You can barely hold your own ground," Hikaru frowned. His eyes narrowed at me and he got up from where he was sitting, walking in the opposite direction of me to the nearest door. After all, my piano was right in the corner of the room...
I sighed deeply as he walked out of the room to hopefully cool off, but I decided to be stubborn and I immediately chased after the orange-haired boy. The hallway was surprisingly darker than it seemed, maybe I was hallucinating or getting some type of anxiety attack, because at the time, I was getting more and more nervous. The hallway seemed endless and I felt there was a door at the end, that led to my demise.
I bit my lip again and desperately tried to find Hikaru Hitachiin and confront him.
He was at the end of the hall, facing the fancy wallpaper and carved wood plastered firmly onto the sides of the wall. He wore a pouty and spoiled face, and I stood there right behind him like an idiot.
"Hikaru Hitachiin-" I began to say.
"I'm not quite in the mood for an apology or something, m'lady," His statement was completely sarcastic. "M'lady," he said, "is a term for proper girls, girls of whom deserve respect, and you're clearly not one of those girls."
"It's not like I'll ever call you 'sire' or something, that's stupid," I retorted. "Those girls are all fake. They know nothing."
"You get C's in class and you've stayed home in class! You know less than them," Hikaru growled.
"Oh, like you're much better, like you're Haruhi, you've gotten into Ouran Academy with a scholarship," I said.
I felt him frown at me, and my heart raced ever so quickly. "What's your deal?" He asked.
"W-what?" I didn't know what he meant.
"I mean, why do you keep trying to talk back? I don't need any of this trash-talking or anything. I'm rich. I could sue you. Everyone would back me up," Hikaru responded.
"You can't sue me for words. Words...shouldn't hurt," I said.
None of that was true. The things my mother said behind my back or to my face or to Yuto, the things that all the girls in school whispered about me, a thing, an it. Hikaru was no fool. While immature, he was no idiot, he could see right through me, I awas, after all, transparent.
But he couldn't see the flecks of colors on my bare skin, almost like a wrecked painting. He couldn't see the marred scars of Yuto's purrs echoing through my brain, he could not see that.
Couldn't he?
Because if someone looked at me, maybe, just maybe, they'd see me desperately trying not to drown from my own tears.
He scoffed. "That's such a lie. Words hurt a lot."
"But you've never probably really been insulted to your face."
"I mean, who'd want to look at you anyways?"
"You're undesirable, I'm telling you the truth."
I shook at the weight of his words, because I knew it was all true, I was undesirable, I was ugly, someone bad. But I could not help the sense of dread fill up my heart.
"And yet, boys chase after you."
a/n: Wow I suck at writing and updating! I can't believe I'm finally done with this chapter.
I realize I'm being totally cliché with all the characters so more interaction between Kiyomi and Kyoya/Mori up ahead. No idea what it'll be about yet, but it's coming! And I also notice Hikaru is completely OOC in my opinion (kill me) so I'll have to change that up too. Thanks for reading!