By the time I finally was able to go back to the court room, they were getting ready to sentence my Father. I hadn't realized that I had been gone for that long, but it was pretty obvious that I had been in no shape to be there longer. I took a deep breath as I entered and slipped into my seat. The entire room was silent as people waited for the jury to decide the sentence and though I knew that this process could take a while, I still leaned forward slightly in anticipation.

Finally, the judge cleared his throat and began to speak, "Hiroto Soretzu, after viewing the evidence and much deliberation, this court finds you... guilty of all charges which include, but are not limited to; money laundering, statutory rape, aggrieved assault, and child abuse. You are hereby sentenced to 30 years in prison and a fine of ¥50,000."

Okay, I just want to say, that I spent a little over an hour researching the typical sentencing laws in Japan, and this is roughly what I found. If I was way off base with what his sentence would have been, considering his crimes, please let me know! Learning about this is interesting and I want the story to roughly reflect real life!

When I heard these words, I had no idea what to do, it just wouldn't register that I was free. My Father would never be able to hurt me again and I could finally move on. There was no cheering or anything that you see on the movies when the bad guy gets sentenced; it was just quiet and the only sounds were people getting up and my Father being cuffed and led away.

I felt someone grab my arm and help me stand up and all I could do was to follow whoever itt was as we walked outside where I was engulfed in a hug. "You're free Risa-chan, you're free!" I recognized the voice as Honey's and I put my hand on his head, showing recognition. As the other voices chimed in I finally broke out of my stupor, I let out a sob, and I probably would have collapsed if the Host's hadn't been there to pull me back up.

"I'm free, I don't have to worry about this anymore." I murmured and a shaky laugh/sob ripped it's way out of my throat; I reached out for my friends and they were there, just like they always were and I pulled them all close and they responded by squeezing me tightly. "Guys? Let's go back to school, let's go open up the Host club."

I almost laughed at the shock on their faces and with their help, I stood up, "Are you sure you want to go back to school, Risa?" Haruhi asked, "I mean, that was very traumatic for you, and none of us want to push you to far."

"Yes, I want to go. Ouran is one of my safe places, the only place that I have always felt safe from my Father before I met you guys, and my constant refuge. Playing the piano at the Host club has honestly saved my sanity, so of course I want to go there now that I am totally free!"

As I said this, I saw Tamaki wipe a tear out of the corner of my eye; I only had a small idea as to why that would affect him so much, but I had a feeling that it had something to do with the fact that both Tamaki and I saw the Host club as a refuge, and that we were both most comfortable when we were with our family there. I smiled at his, nd he returned it, and for that moment, we knew exactly what the other was thinking.

***

Back at the club, I was surrounded by girls asked about what had happened; the trial wasn't exactly a surprise, it had been well broadcasted over the media, and since the Ootori's had gotten involved, it was obviously big news in the school. I smiled politely, but honestly, I just wanted to talk about something else.

Since I obviously wasn't going to get any peace, I walked over to the piano and sat down, thinking of what I could play. "Risa-san?" A quiet voice called out from behind me; I turned around, ready to dismiss whoever had come to talk to me, but the girl I saw was someone who I had talked to regularly and she had always seemed really fond of me.

"Yeah Jun?" I asked.

"Would you please play something for me? I actually have been wanting to hear it for a while, and I thought it might cheer you up. You've been really stressed these last few days." I nodded and asked for the name. "It's called Waterfall, it's by some American guy."

When I heard what it was, I gasped; my brother and I had played this song together all the time before our hands were big enough to reach all the notes played. We still had had to play a simple version of it, but it was my favorite song growing up.

I smiled and nodded, "Jun, I had almost forgotten about this song, so thank you for bringing it back to me" When she heard that, her smile brightened, and she nearly ran back to her spot next to Honey and I turned to the keys.

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If there was one reason why I loved this song, it was because of the happy, jumping melody, which just made you want to smile. and though it required a lot of fast hand work, I loved the challenge.

I nodded my head to the beat and a laugh even slipped out as I envisioned a waterfall and all the little creatures that would be there. It was a song that was almost meant to lift everyone's spirit's when they heard it.

I was so lost in my own world of playing, that by the time the song was over, I didn't even realize that I had the attention of the whole club. It was silent for a minute, then people began to applaud; I simply stood up and bowed then walked over to Kyoya, who wrapped an arm around me, ignoring the squeals of the customers at his show of affection. "It's nice to see that smile on your face again, Risa; it's been a while since I've seen one that was genuine."

I nodded and leaned into him a bit, "I know, it feels nice to smile genuinely again."

We looked up as the door opened and a small blond girl walked in; Tamaki walked forward to crouch in front of her in the cosplay of the day (police officers), and asked gently, "Little kitty cat, why have you come to see us today?"

"A reverse harem! This is a reverse harem!" My eyes widened at that and I looked around in confusion to see if that was what I really had heard from this little girl. Sadly, all the other Hosts were doing the same thing, so I guess she really had said that.

Tamaki shakily stood up and said, "That can't be right, I must have heard wrong; maybe there's still some water in my ear from when I went swimming."

Hikaru nodded, "Water in the ear's; that's gotta be it!" He looked at Kaoru, who nodded and said, "I'm sure we just heard her wrong, there's no way this cute little girl said the words, reverse harem; something's going on with our ears."

I wanted to point out that the last time we had been swimming was over a month ago, but before I could, the little girl spoke again, shocking us all, "There is debauchery here, Yay! There's debauchery here, isn't there?"

I wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry with that, then she pointed to Haruhi, "You're the glasses character." Then she moved to Honey and Mori, "You are the boy Lolita and the stoic type." The twins, "Twincest." Kyoya, "And the bookworm." Then she scrunched her eyes looking at me, "Hmm, you're... the survivor!" I smiled at that

Then she turned to Tamaki, who flinched, apparently scared of what name she would give him, "Big brother?" I looked between the two in shock; sure, their hair looked similar, but other than that, they didn't look that alike. "My brother's blond! You must be him!"

"Oh, here we go." I sighed as she launched herself at him and hugged him around his neck.

Hikaru and Kaoru looked extremely confused, "Since when did you have a little sister, boss?" they asked together.

Tamaki now truly looked like he was going to start panicking, "I don't! I'm an only child as far as I know!"

Everyone continued to speculate, but next to me, I heard Kyoya say, "I wonder if glasses character is superior to big brother?"

I nudged him and said quietly, "Don't bet on it, she looks pretty infatuated with him." He simply groaned and shook his head while Haruhi jumped in.

"Does it really matter? I can't believe she called me bookworm." I laughed at how these two were taking it.

"But Haruhi, isn't that what you are?" I asked happily.

"Maybe, but Kyoya and you are much more of bookworms than I am!" she whined and I laughed.

"True as that may be, I think a better title for Kyoya is still the Shadow King. Yeah, he has glasses, and yeah, he is a bookworm, but that all pales in comparison to his stalking tendencies!" I nudged his shoulder playfully and Haruhi agreed, laughing.

"You two should really pay attention, you just missed the fact that her name is Kirimi and now Tamaki wants to adopt her as his little sister." Kyoya said, ignoring our antics.

"Wait Tamaki," Haruhi said suddenly, "I know you get carried away by emotion. But don't you think it's irresponsible to make such empty promises?" I nodded, but obviously Tamaki disagreed.

 He ignored Haruhi and turned back to Kirimi, "Don't you listen to that mean Haruhi! I'm not irresponsible! Come on with me, I'll look after you!" I sighed and Haruhi turned to Kyoya, I suppose to ask what we should do next, when a creepy voice came from a door in the corner.

"Kirimi... Kirimi." I shook my head, I had long since given up trying to explain what went on with the physics of this darn room. Hold on, I recognized that voice; it was the creepy cloaked guy from the Chapter 10! The figure stepped into the light and I nearly gasped; the mysterious creepy figure was actually a gorgeous blond guy, I did not see that one coming!

Everyone was trying to figure out who he was until two servants ran out and threw a black cloak and wig on him, "Nekozawa-senpai?" All of the Hosts shouted ad I just blinked in confusion until Kyoya leaned down to me.

"He is the President of the Black Magic club, and he is in our grade, rather odd and antisocial, but a decent guy other than that. His family let us stay at their cottage when we went to the beach." I nodded and went back to paying attention to what was happening.

The servants were explaining why he always wore a cloak, "Master Umehito is terribly vulnerable to any kind of bright light, for that reason, if he doesn't shroud himself in black, he will fall victim to the brightness of the outside world and will undoubtedly collapse! And just to be comfortable, he even has to cover his beautiful blond hair with a dark wig."

"On the other hand, his sister, Mistress Kirimi, is frightened of dark and dimly lit places."

I nodded in understanding, it all seemed a bit extreme, but it was their lives. Haruhi asked, "So Kirimi is Nekozawa-senpai's little sister?" The servants nodded, and Nekozawa turned to Kirimi.

"So this is where you've been hiding, Kirimi." He said gently and reached out to her.

"Brother, save me from the monster!" Kirimi cried and buried her face in Tamaki's shoulder.

I wanted to stay and watch this lovely soap opera, but it was time for me to get to my lesson with my business advisor, and I had several meetings that my presence was needed for. I'm not going to lie, I was kind of worried, seeing as how these would be the first meetings I was going to have alone. I had been taking lessons for over a month and when Kyoya's Father and I met again, I told him that I would love to take over my Father's business. Something about being a CEO appealed to me, I may be young, but I was doing well with what was thrown at me, even my advisor said so.

"I nudged Kyoya and whispered in his ear so as to not disturb everyone else, who were fighting over the brightness of the room, "Hey, I have to go, but tell me how this ends, I'm curious now!" He nodded and gave me a quick kiss on the forehead and I ran out of the room to my real-life responsibilities that seemed like such a different world from school, it was nice.

~~~~~~~~~~

A/N Sorry to cut the chapter off short, but I felt like it was dragging on, and I didn't want to just ramble! I have an important note coming up that I'll probably post tomorrow, let me know what you all think, because it could probably change the storyline of the book! You are all the best, thank you for all the support!

-klypso01