Okay, so the gif has absolutely nothing to do with the chapter, but when I saw that I actually snorted, (not just the usual exhale a little more than usual and half smirk.) It is so flipping true! I think Kyoya does this just to bug Tamaki.  I dedicated this to @TheTwoTroubleMakers for their hilarious comments, thank you so much!

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It has been two long weeks since I last set foot in this house, and I was not happy to be back. I'm sure the servants were all happy, because they had gotten a week off, but that time flew by too fast. I wasn't ready to face my life, and I really wasn't ready to face my Father, but I didn't really have a choice. If I never stood up to Father, then he would never learn that I am not a rag doll anymore, I had friends who somehow had become my family over the last couple of weeks, and they were the ones who were giving me the strength to walk into my house right now.

I took a deep breath and opened the door. As usual, my butler was standing by, waiting to take my school things. "Miss Risa, it's good to see you again." I didn't respond because I could see from the expression on his face that it was not a pleasure for him. "Your Father's plane has been delayed, so he will be getting home late tonight. He has specific instructions for you to stay in your room for tonight, he will greet you tomorrow."

I nodded, but on the inside, I was jumping for joy, I didn't have to face my Father until after school tomorrow! Any time to prepare was a blessing; I ran upstairs and jumped on my bed, smiling a little as I stared up at the ceiling. It was a coward's way out, but at that moment I didn't care.

I stayed in my room for the rest of the evening, trying to crowd out the memories, fears, and self-doubts that were trying to sneak in. Mitzukuni had helped me learn how defend myself, I would not let him and Takashi down by being weak right now.

***

School the next day was interesting to say the least. Practice with Mitzukuni and Takashi was one of my hardest days yet; eventually Takashi forced me to stop and I left after being told to rest that day, and we would review everything I had learned tomorrow.

 I wasn't really able to pay attention to the teacher during class, and both Tamaki and Kyoya sent me concerned looks; I guess I wasn't really hiding my nerves all that well. When we went to lunch, I was surprised to see that the fight between the twins had escalated and now they had dyed their hair. If I had been able to, I would have broken down laughing at their stupid decisions, but I was struggling enough as it was.

I decided that enough was enough once Mitzukuni and Takashi started getting thrown around. (Seriously though, who wouldn't freak out a little when two skinny freshmen throw Takashi, the human tree!) As I went to walk out of the cafeteria, Kyoya grabbed my arm and led me to the club room, which was empty right now. "You've been avoiding me long enough, Risa. I know something is going on with you, and it is affecting your health. Why won't you let anyone help you?"

I glared at him, but he just kept staring at me, expecting an answer. Finally, I cracked, "Kyoya, the reason I don't talk to you guys about this is the same reason you don't talk about the issues you are having with your Father and brothers. I have a battle I am fighting, and I am fighting to win, but I need to do this on my own, even if it's just to prove to myself that I can."

Kyoya looked more than shocked at my answer, but when he heard my reason, his eyes softened. "I guess I can't really correct you on that as you do have a point; but Risa, I feel like every time I see you, you get a little bit paler. I am not arguing with your ability to fight your battle, I'm concerned that it might take so much out of you, that when you're finished, you won't be able to pick up the pieces.

"I would never doubt your strength, we all have seen it since the day we met you, but we also all care about you. You have so much of a load on your shoulders and we want to do what anyone who cares about you would do, help support you as you bear your burden."

I blinked as Kyoya finished his monologue, emotions were welling up inside of me and I felt so happy. I had never had anyone who supported me, but this was a very welcome surprise. I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked into Kyoya's eyes, trying to keep the tears that were threatening away. I was gently pulled forward and pressed into his chest and I felt his arms encircle me.

I had never felt safer than in that moment; my mind and body melted as the foreign feeling of being hugged swept through me, and in that moment, the dam broke. Tears started pouring from my eyes and I wrapped my arms around Kyoya's waist, clinging to him as my body began to shake with sobs.

I felt Kyoya run his fingers through my hair, standing still and allowing me to get everything out. When the tears finally ran dry, I pulled back and looked at his now wet blazer. "Oh gosh, I'm so sorry Kyoya! First I avoid you and now I ruin your clothes." We looked at each other, and then I started laughing. He simply smiled, but it was a genuine smile this time, and not one of the fake ones he usually gave everyone.

As the laughing stopped I sent a serious look towards Kyoya, "I promise that I will tell you everything, but I'm not ready for that. You guys have helped me get through so much, and I have no way to thank you for everything you've done for me, but some scars lie deeper than others and those will take longer to heal." He looked at me in understanding and I turned to leave the room. "I'll see you at the club, something tells me that this odd day has only started, what do you think?"

And with that I left him standing behind me with a small smile still on his face.

Third Person POV

After Risa had left, Kyoya stood still for a moment or two and then pulled out his notebook and read some of his old notes, "Oh Risa, to say things are only getting started is truer than you even know. I just hope that you're ready for what might be facing you soon." And with that he walked out, the happiness gone as he thought of the financial reports that he had received from the Soretzu family business. (Do you guys think that Kyoya was OOC in this interaction? I could see him doing this, but maybe I'm just losing my mind:})

***

Risa's POV

I couldn't help but look around the club room in shock, it was trashed and the twins stood in front of the huge pile of random objects breathing heavily and glaring at one another. Mitzukuni saw me come in and waved to me, he looked perfectly happy despite the fact that he was on top of the huge pile the twins had made. I gaped and wondered what in the heck I had wandered into.

"You guys are still at it? Geez, just kiss and make up already." I grumbled as I passed them, then I froze, 'Hold on a second, the more I think about it the more overdramatic and scripted this whole thing seems. Fighting in unison over a menu? Throwing things that never seem to hit the other twin? I know for a fact that they aren't that bad of shots, they always have pinpoint accuracy whenever they are targeting me during the Host club and breaks. Plus ,there is the fact that right before they started fighting, they mentioned how bored they were. Oh snap! They have been faking this whole thing!'

I looked at them with wide eyes and approached the two who were panting heavily. "You guys wouldn't happen to be faking this whole thing, now would you?" I said this only loud enough for them to hear, and when they did their glares turned into mischievous smirks and put a finger to their lips.

"Well now, you figured it out, don't go telling everyone just yet, okay?" I sighed and nodded, shaking my head as I walked away.

Apparently I had missed a huge chunk of the conversation that the Hosts were having, but it was pretty obvious that they were talking about the twins when Haruhi said, "Who knows? Maybe it is a turn for the better. But if this really is their first fight, they probably need someone to tell them when it's time to give in and call it quits. And if they've never fought before, would they even know how to make up?"

Tamaki jumped up and shouted at the twins, "Don't you guys think that maybe it's time you give up all this fighting? It's driving me insane!"

If I hadn't known what was going on, I would have been frightened when the twins practically exploded and the climax of the fight came with Hikaru yelling, "What'd you say? It's driving you insane? You've gotta be kidding me. How do you think I feel right now? Every time I look in the mirror, I see his face. I'm sick and tired of constantly being mistaken for you, Kaoru! The truth is I hate your guts!"

Kaoru wasn't going to be out done though, as he pulled something out of his blazer pocket, "You took the words right out of my mouth. In fact, I hate you so much I bought this, Belzenef, the curse doll. I'm going to complete the curse, Hikaru. I'm going to write your name on his back. From this day forward, you're going to experience nothing but misfortune and sorrow!"

 I face palmed as Haruhi jumped up and ran over to them, I didn't know what they were up to, but I had a feeling we were about to find out. "Would you guys knock it off? What do you think you're doing? You don't bring something like this into a petty fight. Both of you are at fault here but what's really sad is that you brought everyone else around you into your big mess! Now apologize to each other! If you don't make up right now, I'll never let you come over to my house. Have I made myself clear?"

And there it was, the twins' objective. The twins looked at each other and then at Haruhi a grin coming onto their faces, "So then what you're saying, Haruhi, is that if we make up, we can come over to your place?" Haruhi looked at them in shock and slowly turned over the curse doll she had taken from Kaoru, on the back was written "Blank"

'Poor Haruhi, she looks about ready to pass out.' Then the twins began doing their typical twincest act and held each other closely. Hikaru started, as per usual, "I'm so sorry, Kaoru. Even though I was just following our script, I said such awful things to you. I'm not fit to be your brother."

Kaoru looked at Hikaru shyly, "Don't say that, Hikaru. I was so worried. I couldn't live with myself if I ever thought I had hurt you."

"Kaoru, I'll never let you go again."

"Hikaru." I watched with fascination and a bit of disgust as they continued their act, then something happened that surprised me, Honey walked over to them and glared a little bit.

"You gotta be kidding. You mean you guys were faking it this whole time? You guys have more people you need to apologize to than just each other; say sorry to Ri-chan! You don't know how much you hurt her by what you said yesterday." We all looked at Honey in shock, he never was this strict unless he was teaching.

The twins turned to me with guilt written on their faces. Hikaru started, "I really am sorry Risa, I didn't even think about how you would feel when I said that; to be honest, I was just trying to catch Kaoru off guard. I really didn't mean what I said."

Kaoru nodded, "Yeah, I didn't mean any of it either, it was just the first things that came to mind, I honestly think that you are one of the strongest people I know. Not physically, but from where you were, to where you are now, you have gotten so much more confident. It has been one of my greatest pleasures to watch you get more confident as each day passes."

I blinked rapidly and looked at the ground, trying to stop the tears that were escaping. I felt two pairs of arms coming around me and looked up in shock to see the twins hugging me. "Thanks, you guys, I kinda knew that it was something that you didn't mean seriously as soon as I realized that that this whole thing was fake earlier today, but it means a lot to hear you say it."

Tamaki chose then to yell, "Wait, you knew!" I smiled and nodded, but then looked down as I saw someone else wrap their arm around me. Honey was smiling up at me and my smile grew. As if this was a sign, all the other hosts except Kyoya came in to hug me. Well, all of them except Mori, who simply smiled at me a little and patted my head.

Tamaki was still muttering something about bored twins being the devil, but he still seemed happy to be in the hug.

***

I walked into my home with a huge smile stretched across my face, I still was worried about what was going to happen, but I felt so much more confident knowing that I had the Hosts standing behind me. For the first time in a long time, I didn't feel alone.

 As the door closed, the smile froze and slowly dropped from my face and my eyes widening in horror and I really just wanted to run. This shouldn't be happening, I hadn't had time to prepare myself for something like this happening.

Waiting for me in the place of the butler, was my Father.

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Dun, Dun, DUN!!!! Okay, I am so excited right now, for multiple reasons, first off, there is the fact that my story has been published for a whole week and it's gotten almost a hundred views, but also next chapter is going to be so intense! I can't wait to see what happens! WARNING, it will be dark and depressing, but it will also have some things in it that might just shock you. See you next time!

-klypso01