Holy Crap guys, I looked at the stats for this book, and guess where we are, 2.5K!!!!! I can't tell you how exciting this is for me, thank you so much for everyone who has continued to read this. It's hard to believe that I have only been working on this book for just under a month! You are all so amazing!

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I groggily climbed out of Mori's arms as he carried me out of the water, and I was immediately surrounded by the Hosts, who were all trying to talk to me, but their words were about as clear as mud, so I just stared blankly ahead until I felt a pair of hands rest on my shoulders. I blinked at the person in front of me, trying to make sense of what was going on.

"Risa, are you alright? Can you hear me?" The face cleared up and I smiled weakly at Kyoya, who was standing in front of me.

"Yeah, I'm okay, just a little fuzzy, don't worry."

Tamaki cut Kyoya off before he could respond, "Don't worry?! You just did a nosedive off of a cliff after getting smacked into the ground, how could we not worry?"

Kyoya glared at Tamaki and snapped, "Would everybody just stand back? She's obviously disoriented and crowding her is not going to help anything!" Everyone grimaced and obey him, then he turned back to me, "I called a doctor, and someone should be here in a few minutes, we need to make sure that you don't have a concussion."

I nodded and walked to a beach chair that the twins had set up with Mori's help. The doctor arrived and after a little examination, he turned to the hosts, "She appears to have a slight concussion, but other than that she is perfectly fine; I would recommend plenty of bedrest and fluids for the next day or so." Kyoya thanked him and he left, and when he did, all the Hosts turned to me, I groaned as I realized what was likely about to happen.

"Risa, what were you thinking in fighting those guys? I know you have been training with Honey and Mori, but did you seriously think you could take on three opponents? I thought you were smarter than that." The disappointed look was enough to almost make me feel guilty, as it was, his words simply served to infuriate me.

"Are you flipping kidding me? Where in your mind does it make sense that this was my fault? I was on top of the cliff before the boys even got there, I was just defending myself, and it was either that or I allow myself to be taken advantage of. The reason I started learning self-defense was so that I would never have to be a victim again, and there is no way I would simply allow myself to fall into that situation without fighting with everything inside of me. To make it worse, there were other girls there who have never had the experience of being utterly helpless and I'll be dammed before I let them come to know that feeling."

I was so furious that the Hosts were all taking a step back from me with looks of shock on their faces; well, all except Honey, who was looking at me proudly. Tamaki sighed and said, "Risa, we know you had your reasons, but you have to realize what it felt like for us, seeing you being slammed into the ground and then thrown off the cliff was terrifying; at least, it was for me. It just made me remember what it was like to find you at your Father's house, and I never wanted to see you in that state again, we're sorry for misjudging the situation."

I nodded, but noticed that Kyoya was still practically radiating tension that I knew would have to be addressed later. To say that I was not looking forward to that would be an understatement, but I digress.

Tamaki turned to Haruhi and I cringed away ever so slightly, I could just feel what was about to happen, "What about you?" She just looked at him, very obviously confused, "What were you thinking? You know, you're not like Honey-senpai, you're not a martial arts master. Why did you confront them? What made you think you would stand a chance? You against three boys?"

Haruhi looked indignant, "But it doesn't matter that they're boys and I'm a girl. I was there, I had to do something, there wasn't any time to think..."

They continued to bicker and Honey came over to me, "Ri-chan, why don't you come inside with Takashi and I to make dinner? We would love your help!" I smiled and nodded and Mori came and picked me up.

"I can walk you know." I grumbled but he just ignored me and continued to walk, while Honey giggled and skipped along at his side.

We got to the kitchen of the mansion that we were staying at and Mori deposited me in a bar stool by the counter and they started to get to work, preparing a bunch of crabs to cook. I reached for a bowl to help them with the preparation but both of them pushed it away from me and shook their heads, "Oh come on guys, why did you bring me in here if you didn't want me to help?"

"Well Ri-chan, you looked like you didn't want to be out there anymore, so I thought that you would rather be in here talking to us, then chewed out for scaring everyone."

"Did I really scare you that much?"

Mori looked at me with something sparking in his eyes, "Yeah, we've seen you broken once and none of us want to see you in that position again."

"I'm sorry Takashi, Mitzukuni. You both have been so amazing to me and I feel like you have had to do nothing but take care of me, I'm nothing but a burden in the end." My head dropped and I sighed, but I suddenly felt a hand under my chin, lifting my head to look into Mori's eyes.

"Risa, we wouldn't keep helping you if we didn't want too. I speak for all of the Hosts when I say that you are so much more to us than a burden."

I looked at him shocked and Honey jumped in, "Yeah Ri-chan, you are like a little sister to me, and so when we get to see you grow, it makes all of us really happy. It's the same when we see you sad, all of us want nothing more than to fix whatever is wrong and help you to get better. You have faced more than most people ever will, and we want to make sure that you don't have to face any more, especially not on your own."

My eyes grew watery and I pulled the two of them forward into a hug, "Thank you, you two; you always know what to say to make me feel better." I leaned back, "That doesn't mean that I'm going to let you get out of letting me help. I want to help with dinner, so what can I do?"

Honey laughed and handed me some of the crabs to prepare and we got to work.

***

We carried the trays of crab and other foods out to the long table and my eyes widened at the amount of tension in the air. We set everything down and Haruhi immediately pulled a crab towards her and began chowing down. Obviously, the tension between Tamaki and Haruhi had only increased since we left them.

It got to the point that all of us were just staring at Haruhi as she continued to eat crab after crab, eventually Tamaki was the first to break the silence, "Don't you think you've had enough? Give it a rest."

Haruhi shot Tamaki a dirty look and fired back at him, "Excuse me, I thought you weren't speaking to me."

"You... trying to be cute? Okay fine, I get it, it seems you refuse to admit that you were wrong. See if I care, then, I'm going to bed, Kyoya, would you show me to my room, please?"

Kyoya pushed his chair back, "No problem; well, excuse me everyone." The two left, and I stared wistfully after them wishing that I could leave the tension behind as well and go read my book.

Haruhi sighed and looked down at her lap, "Maybe he's right, maybe I do need to learn a way to protect myself." I smiled gently at her and the twins looked at each other as we all remembered what Tamaki had said.

"So, that's it, He got to you, huh?" They said together, Hikaru started off, "Well, it wouldn't hurt you to learn martial arts or something." Then Kaoru continued, "But it's not like we're going to force you to learn it."

Then they said together, "Besides, that's not the real issue here." Hikaru started again, "To be honest, we were all a little worried about how recklessly you acted."

Haruhi looked at him in confusion, "What do you mean? I didn't cause you guys any trouble or anything."

Honey grimaced and interjected, "That's not true, Haru-chan, I think you should apologize, 'kay? You made us all worried, especially Tama-chan, I think you need to apologize to him the most."

Haruhi tilted her head, "So you were worried about me? But why?"

The twins shook their heads and said together, "You're hopeless." She apologized and all the Hosts except Mori smiled and cooed about how adorable she was then they surrounded her and hugged her.

I noticed that her face turned slightly green, "I'm not feeling so good."

I stood, "You must have eaten too much crab, let's get you to a bathroom." She nodded and stood up shakily.

The Hosts all yelled out encouragement behind us as we sped to the nearest bathroom, running inside without looking to make sure that the room itself was unoccupied. I closed the door behind her as she made it to the toilet and I cringed slightly as I heard her vomiting. I looked up startled when I heard someone clearing their throat, Kyoya was sitting in a chair by the window in the nearly dark room.

 I mumbled a greeting, then my eyes widened as I realized that Kyoya was shirtless; I don't know what I was expecting, but the soft lines of muscles that showed obvious toning was not it. My face flushed and I looked away awkwardly, it wasn't like I had never thought of Kyoya as handsome, but I just had no idea what to do in situation, so I did what any normal teenage girl would do; I went for the door like the room was on fire.

I was so close when I felt a hand go around my wrist, stopping me, and turning me around. Kyoya put his hand under my chin and made me look into his eyes, "Risa, we need to talk."

"Can't we get home?" I pleaded with him.

"I think not, it would be better to get this over with sooner rather than later."

I sighed then flopped into one of the chairs, praying that this would be over quickly, "Fine, let's talk, just don't hold anything in Kyoya, I know you tend to do that and I don't want to have this conversation again when there is something left unresolved."

He smiled slightly at me, then his face dropped into a very serious look, "Risa, I'm not going to lie, I'm worried about you. I feel like you take more risks than are necessary and you don't seem to value your own life."

I winced a little, "I guess I did ask you to be completely honest with me. Listen Kyoya, I know that today was a difficult day for all of us, and perhaps I did react rashly; but it was also in the heat of the moment, and I didn't have time to think about anything but helping people I care about not get hurt. I wish that I could have been strong enough to not get hurt and worry everyone, but I know that if I don't try to fight, then I will never be able to heal."

"I would never be able to forgive myself if someone I loved got hurt and I did nothing to stop it, and I guess I figured that it was better me than Haruhi."

"I wish I could reprimand you for your desire, but I understand what you feel too much to do that. Risa..." I looked at him in shock, did I make the shadow king speechless?

He tried again, "Risa, you have to understand what you mean to all of us, you are the little sister, the best friend, and so much more. When I saw you on that cliff, I realized what it would do to me if I were to lose you, and the thought scared me more than most things I could think of. I don't want to see you helpless again, it's just not you."

By this Kyoya's voice was hardly above a whisper and if I wasn't mistaken, his eyes were slightly watery. "Kyoya?" I stood up and knelt in front of his chair, placing my hands on my knees to balance myself.

"Risa, I have never been good at showing how I feel, that's something that just doesn't come automatically to me, but I have been wanting to tell you something ever since you started living with my family. You have opinions and you aren't afraid to share them, you love with your whole heart, and I can have actual conversations with you about things that interest me, like money and politics."

I smiled at the memory of those particular conversations, and the weird looks we got from our classmates when they overheard them. Neither of us were your stereotypical teenager, that's for sure.

""I don't know when it happened, but at some point, I stopped thinking of you as someone to be used, and you wormed your way under my skin." It was quiet for a minute, then he lifted his hand to my cheek and softly brushed by skin with his thumb.

I sat frozen, a small part of me wanted to run and hide, because this was the first time that a man was touching me like this, kindly and almost intimately, but the rest of me wanted to see what happened; so I stayed, staring into Kyoya's eyes. He was looking at me as though I were the only thing in the world that mattered, and that caused my heart to thrill in my chest.

He began leaning in, and as he got closer, my eyes instinctually slipped closed; I could feel his breath on my face and a second before our lips met, he muttered, "What are you doing to me Risa Soretzu?" and closed the gap.

At first, I couldn't believe that this was happening, as the kiss continued, I gradually melted into it, leaning into Kyoya and our lips began to move together, a warm feeling was rushing through my body and I grinned at the alien experience that I already loved.

I was so absorbed in the kiss that I didn't hear the door opening until it was too late, "Kyoya? Do you have any lotion? This sunburn is worse than I... What?!" We jerked apart as we heard Tamaki's voice interrupting our moment.

"YOU IDIOT!!!!" Haruhi stormed over to Tamaki from the bathroom, I had totally forgotten that she was even there, and she pushed him out of the room, "Sorry for the interruption you two, go back to what you were doing!" She caught my eye and winked as she closed the door, and I looked back to Kyoya, noticing that he had a light blush on his face. I, on the other hand, looked like a fire engine with how red I was.

"Well, that... happened." I said, wondering what in the heck we were supposed to do next. I squealed slightly as I felt Kyoya grab my hand and pull me up into his lap, "Wait, wh-what are you doing, Kyoya?"

"He chuckled and gave me a quick closed eye smile, that I think was supposed to appear innocent; yeah, that didn't work. "Haruhi did say to go back to what we were doing, I was simply following orders." And with that he swooped in again, trying to kiss me, but I wriggled out of his arms.

"Um, as much as I would love to do that, I have to... uh... go do something! Yeah, it's important, and... yeah!" I practically sprinted to the door, then paused with my hand on the handle, "Kyoya? Does this mean that we're together?" I braved a look back at his shocked face.

"I would like it if that's what this meant, what about you, Risa?"

I thought about it for a second, "Yeah, I would like that too." I said quietly, then looked back at him; there was a cocky smile on his face as he realized that I wasn't fleeing because I disliked the kiss or anything. I smiled back at him and then left the room, I needed to do some serious reflection, and perhaps some fangirling!

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A/N THEY KISSED!!!!! What did you guys think? I've never written a romance scene, so I'm not sure how well this turned out, but I blame the music I was listening to for this. (Darn YouTube and its endless supply of epic music!)

Seriously though, give me your thoughts on how it was good, and how it could be better, I just want to improve!

-klypso01