I tried present tense with this one.

Hardly a day goes by without me being reminded of my task.

I am a warrior, skilled in the arts of impersonation. But my task wasn't to impersonate, it was to instead protect the seven heirs of each of the clans every single time they met, to protect them along with five others.

Which is, actually, quite often.

There was only six clans, but seven 'heirs'. I am assigned to protect one of them, but my comrades agreed that we shall attempt to protect every last one of them, no matter the cost.

Once such occasion where I must protect the young heirs is now, as bubbles tickle the base of my throat, the pockets of air sliding up from my skin.

The hand at the back of my head refuses to reside, and the water laps at my cheeks. I can feel the ache in my lungs begin, as I've been drained of oxygen.

I'm being held underwater, arms locking my own behind my back, and all I can do is watch as strands of my hair float by, basked in red from the glint of the sun above.

The hand is heavy, pushing down on my head with all more the force then necessary, and as I shift my foot, they take it as a sign of aggression and slam my head down deeper into the way, bashing my nose on the pavement of the fountain.

In an instant, it's removed, and as I quickly surface, water dripping down my cheeks and framing my hair and eyebrows, I can hear the pop of someone's arm being dislocated.

"Never let your guard down," the male who broke that person's said arm raises a disinterested eyebrow, his dark brown gaze roaming over me. "Isn't that what I say to you every time we head out?"

"Sorry," I murmur half-heartedly, a hand flying to the inside of my shirt to draw out the blade that had been carefully pressed to my bra. "I shall remember it next time, Mako."

The brunet doesn't respond, instead darting between yet another attacker and the blond male.

Suoh Tamaki, the heir to the Suoh Clan, a princely knight who's words were decorated with double meanings. His only real talent was to woo people- both men and women alike.

My companion, Mako (who's last name I don't know) is assigned to protect the Suoh, and he would never let go of it if he failed his job, even in the slightest.

A limb flies towards my face, and I flick the blade up without another word, the finely honed edge biting hard into the dark skin. A liquid explodes over the white traditional clothing I was wearing, splattering the fine material with a canvas of red.

"Haiji," I call, a hand wounding around the attacker's arm to hold them immobile. "Are we killing or just injuring?"

"Injuring. Nothing to fatal, I h-"

Haiji cuts off in an instant, his mouth snapping shut and into a firm line as he collides with another attacker, who's hood flies back to reveal a mess of ginger hair. His hand smacks against their nose, a rather loud crack coming from the collision as Haiji, formerly in mid-air, lands on the ground, his hands poised to strike once more.

Behind him was the heir that he protected with his life.

Hitachiin Kaoru, someone who really wasn't a 'heir', yet one at the same time. His older twin, Hikaru, refuses to acknowledge the fact that he is, in fact, the older one, and technically the heir of the Hitachiin Clan.

"Sorry, my lord," Haiji states, his eyebrows drawn together. "I was almost too late."

Kaoru's mouth quirks into a slight frown, as if he was about to object to the older, grey-haired man. "U-Uh... it's fine, I guess..."

While all this is happening, I jerk the blade's handle side to side, my fingers clenched tightly around the hilt of it. Blood washes over the injury, dribbling over the broken skin.

The attacker flees away from my hand, and my slippery grip allows my hand to slip from the handle, leaving the blade stuck into their skin.

I waste no time in dashing after them, but stop as I see one of my other companions take care of them.

Kotaki, or Ko for short, doesn't hesitate in ripping the blade free from the attacker, leaving them writhing on the ground in pain. She flips the blade to examine the blade and her green-eyed gaze flashes to me, flecks of yellow scattered throughout her eyes and causing the look to be quite distracting.

"He would have bled out anyway," she sighs, dropping the blade so that it clatters against the ground, first landing on the thin edge before laying down on its' side like a puppy. "Are you all right, my lord?"

"I'm just fine."

Ootori Kyoya, the calculating son of the Ootori clan. His other two brothers had died in a mysterious action, although when questioned, Kyoya says he rather not speak about it.

The dark-haired Ootori nudges up his glasses, looking over the lenses with a stern gaze, lips pressed in the thin line. 

"You might have not been," Ko says, a hard edge to her pale green eyes. "I would have not forgiven myself if even a minor cut on your finger was dealt." 

Kyoya only looks at her once more,  up and down the twenty-year old before turning his attention to the book he holds in his hands. 

There's a sharp scrape of shoes flying across pavement behind me, and I whip around. One hand curls into a fist, yet I don't wait to hurl it, my knuckles smashing against skin and bone before the attacker flies backwards. 

It seems that they're already taken care of, as Chisaki doesn't hesitate to judo-flipping them over her shoulder. 

Her protected heir waits behind her, and it's only when her gaze slips away from him that he hurries to his brother, who is still behind Haiji. 

Hitachiin Hikaru, the properly-declared heir of the Hitachiin clan. His brother and him hardly go anywhere without each other, which is why Kaoru is here today. Quite skilled in the manners of 'trash-talking' when he really gets annoyed. 

Chisaki slams her foot into the attacker's head for good measure and straightens, her eyes searching for her heir before locating him. 

"My king! If you had gotten injured, I would have not have forgiven myself!" 

"None of you would. Everyone in your little protection squad-thing has a hissy fit when their 'heir' gets hurt. It's like all of you are moms," Hikaru shrugs, then slings an arm around his twin's shoulder. 'We can take care of ourselves, you know." 

With a look at Haiji, Kaoru nods, although the movement is small, as if he's hesitant to agree with his sibling. 

"I'm aware of that fact," Chisaki says, and her voice dips to talk to him in a more quiet tone. 

I avert my gaze, skimming the area for any attackers that were still up. Most of them have retreated, their cloaks whisking across the ground with the slightest whisper of cloth. 

"Is everyone all right?" Haiji raises his voice, his words sweeping over the area.

"I believe so... Honey, are you all right?" 

The voice came from Ren, the youngest out of all of us at the age thirteen. Her hand is placed on the shoulder of a baby-faced boy, who's large brown eyes looked close to tears. 

Haninozuka 'Honey' Mitsukuni, who was basically the oldest out of all the heirs despite looking around ten years old. He was a weapon compacted into a small body, and probably the most formidable out of all the heirs. 

Honey nods, turning to the brown-haired heir beside him. "Haru, are you all right?" 

Fujioka Haruhi, the heir to the Fujioka Clan. In contrast of the Clans such as the Ootori Clan or the Suoh Clan, it's a rather low Clan full of commoners. There were many rumors that Haruhi is actually a girl, but I pay no attention to such things. 

"He's fine," Sumiko cuts in, tossing her dark hair over her shoulder. "Right, your highness?" 

"I'm fine, I guess," Haruhi says with a shrug. "Sumiko took care of any of them that went near." 

I can basically hear waves of pride coming off Sumiko in waves, and she smiles, the slight twist of her lips resting on her face for a small moment before it slips off. 

I rest my hand against the skin just above where my heart is located, and it instantly speeds up as a shadow falls over Honey, a shadow of a much taller man. 

Moriozuka 'Mori' Takashi, the one I am supposed to protect. The Moriozuka Clan and the Haninozuka Clan are closely related, as Mori is the supposed 'bodyguard' for Honey, although Ren takes care of that so Mori can rest. 

Immediately, I feel the blood rushing from my heart in an instant as Mori looks over me, his brow brought together. 

"My king," I say, dipping into a polite bow. "My greatest respects of not being by your side. I'm sorry."

He doesn't respond, and Honey frowns, tugging at the cloth of my white robe, which is sprayed in flashes of red. "You can call Takashi 'Mori', you know!" 

I pause. "Only if that's how he would prefer it." 

Mori only blinks, then inclines his head. 

"Are you all right with that, my king?" 

A slight nod, as if to signal he won't mind. 

"Mori," I test out, the name slipping off my tongue. Against my will, I smile, allowing my hand to drop from my rapidly beating heart. "Mori." 

This was an OHSHC AU I thought up... 

All of the 'Protection Squad' call their assigned person by a certain title, based on their preference and/or how the person wants to be addressed.

Mako -> 'Your Highness', protector of Suoh Tamaki
Kimura (our main character) -> 'My King', 'Mori', protector of Moriozuka 'Mori' Takashi
Haiji -> 'My Lord', protector Hitachiin Kaoru
Kotaki -> 'My Lord', 'The Young Master' (and/or 'Young Master' when addressing him), protector of Ootori Kyoya
Ren -> 'Honey', protector of Haninozuka 'Honey' Mitsukuni.
Sumiko -> 'Your Highness', protector of Fujioka Haruhi
Chisaki -> 'My King', protector of Hitachiin Hikaru