A/N: Fun fact about this chapter. This is the last one I have from the old version of this story, and it was originally from Eri's (Akemi at the time) POV. She would come across the KyoyaxHaruhi scene and freak (she was a much weaker character in the last version). When I started this chapter, I was planning on playing it out the same way, then I realized that this manner was much more appealing. After you guys read, why not tell me what you think!

Emi

By the time we reached the sitting room we were to gather in before dinner, everyone but Haruhi had arrived. My guess was that she was still dealing with the aftermath of the events on the beach. Kyoya'd called a doctor, so no doubt that would make her the last to arrive.

The first thing that drew my eyes when we stepped in was how the twins had a box settled on the room's coffee table, Honey and Mori standing behind them as they went on about whatever rule paper they'd pulled from the boardgame. Nekozawa sat on a couch on the opposite side of the table, occasionally interjecting whenever the twins messed up a rule. Tamaki was sitting in the corner, moping per usual. Kyoya, himself, sat to the side, a book held in his hands. When we entered the room, he glanced up for a moment. His eyes flickered over me, then to Eri where they settled for a moment before dropping down to the book once again. He honestly looked more relaxed than he usually did.

Eri looked at me uncertainly, obviously not interested of the idea of playing whatever game the twins had found in Nekozawa's haunted mansion, but also most likely not wanting to leave me alone. I rolled my eyes, perhaps a bit more irritated than reasonable, and pointedly moved over to where the others sat.

"So, what're we playing?" I asked.

One of the twins twisted the box around for me to read and I scanned it curiously, before uneasily glancing back up at them.

"Death's Fortune?"

"What's with that look?" Hikaru teased.

"Scared?" Kaoru added.

I bristled irritably.

"Of course not!"

That matter settled, it was only a handful of minutes later that we were all settled around the board and being provided with creepily accurate fortunes. Even Kyoya and Eri had been dragged into the matter. I would have bailed the instant Hikaru drew 'two months later will be punched for hitting on someone's girlfriend,' but that would have been admitting defeat to the twins and no way in hell was I going to do that. I had my pride riding on this.

Well, that and yet another bet. The terms of this bet were to be set after the game finished, just one of the other three playing beat us out.

"Ten years later, your height will decrease by two centimeters!" Honey read, a small pout on his face.

"Who's next?" I asked. "Me?"

"If you're the owner of the piece the furthest from the goal," Hikaru teased.

I glowered at him and threw the dice before drawing a card that matched the space I'd landed on. I frowned at the difficult kanji that covered the card, earning myself an eyeroll from Kaoru who snatched it out of my hands before I could protest. Hikaru snickered as his brother scanned the card.

"One month later, is visited by death..."

I stiffened, drawing a frown from Kaoru. Eri, having been quiet the entire time, studied her piece with a small frown, as if uncertain she even wanted to touch it at this point. Kyoya sat next to her, his hands stiffly curled around the ends of the arms of his seat. Before the others could question my reaction, I glowered at the board and pointed at one of the only pieces that had yet to move this round.

"That's Tamaki's, right?" I demanded. "Who's rolling for the idiot this time?"

The twins exchanged looks before shrugging in unison. Kyoya chose that moment to tear his attention away from the board, jaw locked. He stood, pressed his glasses up with his forefinger, and started towards where Tamaki still moped.

"I will," Hikaru decided.

He threw the dice, then counted out the spaces for Tamaki.

"Currently earned hated from friend, massively depressed," the twins read together.

"President, didn't you say you were going to take a long walk along the shore with Haruhi?" Hikaru questioned. "If you're just going to mope around, you shouldn't have argued in the first place."

"You even brought a white dress. It looks like it's really gonna start pouring down out there," Kaoru added, finishing Tamaki off.

Despite my poor mood, I snickered as Tamaki predictably rose to the bait. My humor fled the moment my eyes caught sight of Eri still giving the board a small frown. She'd thrown her dice and shifted her piece. I was about to say something, anything really, but she gave a small shake of her head-- throwing off whatever she'd been thinking-- and plucked a card from the pile. Her eyes flicked over the unseen words, her lips pursed, and she pointedly slid it into the middle of the deck. Eri looked up, then, her gaze locking with mine. Whether she knew I'd been watching the entire time or not, she simply offered me that faint, concerned smile of hers, and stood to join the rest of the club.

My eyes fell to the game board once again.

"Emi!"

I turned around, Hikaru and Kaoru both watching me with those identical, curious frowns of theirs. At some point while I'd been distracted, Haruhi had entered the room. She and Tamaki were pointedly ignoring each other only a few feet behind where the twins stood. The others were already stepping out of the room.

"You coming?" Hikaru pressed.

"Foods' ready," Kaoru explained.

I looked back to the board, scoffed, and turned to join the twins. What was I thinking? It was just a game, right?

"Yeah, yeah, but I'm not sitting by you assholes."

"You forget we were winning!"

"Oh, shut up."

It's not like something like that really meant anything.

It was just a game.

Right?

______________________________________________

Dinner was as tense as one might imagine it to be. Haruhi seemed to be seconds from stabbing Tamaki the entire time and if the rather uneasy look he was giving her was any indication, the idiot knew it. I mean, don't get me wrong, I understood his point. We'd all been right there and Haruhi wasn't the most physically intimidating person I knew. Hell, even I was a bit irritated she hadn't called out for any of us. Still, I didn't say anything. Tamaki and her would probably have it out at some point. With how angry the two of them were with each other, it was pretty much bound to happen.

Rather, I spent the entire meal picking at my food while trying to ignore the way Eri kept sending concerned looks my way. Despite my having purposely put Kyoya between us, she still somehow managed to catch my eye every other second of the meal. Honestly, she was too sensitive for her own good. Just because I'd gotten a little carried away beating those assholes didn't mean I was losing it. It just meant I had no tolerance for stupid, misogynistic jerkwads. Sure, I could have stopped when the twins did, but what did that matter? I hadn't seriously injured them. At least, I was pretty sure I didn't.

I frowned at the crab on my plate, pausing mid-break.

I hadn't, right?

Nah. I might be a bit violent, sometimes, but I wasn't that bad. It wasn't like that time I'd put that queen bitch in the hospital. I gave a small shake of my head and broke open the crab leg.

Eri was just being her usual self.

"Isn't this getting a bit ridiculous?"

I snapped to attention when Eri's voice drew me to the present. While I'd been distracted with stupid thoughts, her eyes had been drawn to the Haruhi and Tamaki drama. At some point, Tamaki had eaten all of the fancy tuna out of spite, so Haruhi was now attempting to stab his hand with a crab leg every time he reached for anything sitting in front of her.

"Someone is going to get hurt," she continued.

"I'm still it'll be fine," I replied. "Besides, I don't really blame her. I'd probably act like that if someone ate all of my favorite food."

Eri shot me a look. I shrugged.

"Even Haruhi has a surprisingly immature side," Hikaru said, sending a small smirk my way.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I demanded.

The twins raised their palms in an innocent manner and shrugged.

"Nothing~" they chimed.

"Oh, yeah?" I challenged. My eyes fell to their plates. "That looks good."

I swiped a piece of horse mackerel sushi from Hikaru's plate and plopped it in my mouth. The way his eyes narrowed in just the slightest degree left me feeling rather pleased. That is, until I purposely returned my attention to breaking another crab leg and he stole the meat the second it came into view. That smug smile of his appeared as I stared, pissed, while he plopped the meat in his mouth.

"Delicious," he announced.

I might have stabbed him with my chopsticks then and there, but Tamaki chose that moment to snap.

"Hey, you! Are you the twins or something?" he demanded.

I started laughing. Haruhi gave him a bored expression, using one of her fingers to plug her ear in response to the yelling.

"Didn't you say you weren't going to talk to me anymore?" Haruhi questioned. "And besides, you're going to burst my eardrum."

Tamaki froze, then a strained smile showed on his face.

"It seems you have no intentions of apologizing. Alrighty then," he said slowly, then paused before suddenly standing and sweeping away from the table. "Fine, then! I'm going to bed. Haruhi, you go too!"

Eri snorted, then covered her mouth as if to take back the noise. Kyoya's face colored with amusement, Eri ducking her head in embarrassment.

"He continues to talk to her," she mumbled.

"I didn't say anything," he mused in response.

"I'll show you to your room, honored guest," a servant spoke up, offering Tamaki a bow as they stepped into the conversation. "This way."

Tamaki turned and started into the hall. He'd only taken a step before he turned back to give the room his puppy dog look. Immediately, I glanced to Kyoya, knowing what the blond was going to say.

"Kyoya... not gonna go to bed?"

The person in question sighed and slowly rose to his feet.

"Yes, yes, everyone, please excuse me," he said, then started towards where Tamaki stood.

Together, the two of them quickly left the room. Eri sighed, an uncharacteristically annoyed look on her face as she dropped her eyes back to her food.

"Yup... it's totally over inflated pride," Hikaru commented when the door shut. If he'd said something before that, I hadn't caught it.

"Haruhi, you're eating too much," Kaoru added. "You're gonna get a stomach ache."

One look at Haruhi's face said she hadn't been paying attention to what they were saying. Honestly, Eri didn't seem all that interested either. Her eyes had shifted to the doorway, a thoughtful look on her face. If I had to guess her thoughts, she was probably wondering whether Kyoya was really going to bed. After all, beyond me-- whom she seemed to be irritated with currently-- Kyoya was the easiest person for her to get along with.

"I should have learned karate or something..." Haruhi muttered. Everyone's attention was drawn back to her.

"So, that's where your thoughts are heading," Hikaru said. "Well, it's not something we should meddle with or anything." That was surprising. Apparently even the twins had their limits. "Honestly. It's cool to be fearless and have a strong sense of justice, but... even we think you should apologize for behavior like today."

"Eh?" Haruhi asked. "But I didn't cause any harm to you guys."

Honestly, she was so clueless sometimes. Even Eri seemed drawn back to the conversation at this point.

"I don't understand why senpai is getting so angry like that. But, if it was because I was weak, then I can apologize for that, I suppose..." Haruhi continued.

"It's not that..." Eri began.

"That's not it, Haru-chan," Honey cut in, moving over so he could grab Haruhi's hands. "Apologize to everybody! Lots and lots to Tama-chan, too. Apologize for causing such a worry."

"Worry...?" she echoed, looking from Honey to the rest of us. "Everyone was worried...? I didn't know that... I'm sorry."

Immediately, I scrambled to my feet to join the others as we hugged Haruhi. She was so adorable sometimes, I had to admit. I was reminded of how when I'd first met her, I'd mused that she'd been have exactly my type had she been a guy. It was no wonder the girls of the club were in love with her.

"What is this...?"

"We'll forgive you because you're so cute!"

"So cute, Haru-chan!"

Haruhi's face began to turn somewhat green.

"Um..." I began, backing off.

"Guys, give her some space, she doesn't look that good," Eri finished.

"Haruhi?" Hikaru asked. He moved a few inches back. "Suffocation, maybe?"

"Nau..." Haruhi mumbled. "Nauseous... feel like... I'm gonna puke."

Both Eri and I burst out laughing. Just like that, the dramatic moment was over.

"I thought you were eating too much!"

"C'mon, hurry!"

"Get ahold of yourself!"

Mori quickly slung her over his shoulder and took off out of the room. I followed behind, but paused at the doorway when I saw Eri wasn't with us. She gave me a small shake of her head and, with hesitation, I nodded and turned to follow the others. She'd be okay, I knew. Most likely she just knew she wouldn't be able to keep up with the others.

Fortunately, by the time I reached the others, Haruhi was nowhere to be scene. That most likely meant she'd made it to a bathroom. The others had traded off fawning over Haruhi in favor of interrogating Nekozawa about his real appearance. As interested as I was in the blonde hair I spotted, my mind flickered back to Haruhi. Knowing these guys, they'd left her alone after making sure she was in the bathroom. They'd probably felt awkward standing in one with a girl. With this in mind, I wandered down the hall, stopping outside each room to listen, sometimes calling out Haruhi's name. Eventually, I found one I could hear her voice coming from. Surprisingly, I could hear Kyoya's as well. I raised my hand to knock, only to pause when the words being said finally registered in my mind.

"You know... isn't it obvious, what would happen between a man and a woman?" Kyoya asked. "Yous ay that you don't care about men and women, but..."

I froze.

"I'm a man, so I can molest you at any time. As a woman, you'll never be able to push me off. Before you think about not caring, realize how easy of a target you are. It's up to you if you want to be all innocent, but being defenceless is your fault."

What the actual fuck was going on?

Suddenly, I was glad Eri couldn't keep up with all of us. I grabbed the door handle, fury racing through my veins. Ootori ass was about to get kicked if I had anything to say about it.

"Emi?"

I'd just begun to tear open the door when Tamaki's voice reached my ears. I ignored him, storming into the room. The lights were out, only adding to fury, but Kyoya was standing next to the bed.

"Well, alright then," Tamaki said, moving to join me from the hall. "Kyoya, do you have any lotion? My sunburn is hurting like--"

Surprise showed on his face as his eyes locked on the scene that had me frozen in place, hands curled into fists at my sides Haruhi sat on the bed, only a foot from where Kyoya stood. The only thing that kept me from leaping into action was the faint smile on her surprised face. She wasn't scared.

But still...

"Kyo--" Tamaki began.

Kyoya crossed the room to where we stood two several, quick strides. I hadn't even seen him grab it, but he slammed his lotion into Tamaki's face, his shirt slung over his shoulder. His eyes caught mine as he criticized Tamaki for just barging into his room and announced that he was going to rejoin the rest of the club. I glowered in response and his jaw locked in just the slightest degree.

Good.

Without waiting to see Tamaki's reaction to the mess, I followed Kyoya into the hall. Before we'd taken more than a half-dozen feet, he sighed.

"Were you--"

I spun around, catching his shoulder with my arm and shoving the taller boy into the wall. It was the surprise that did it for me. As much as I hated to admit it, Kyoya had a good few inches on me.

"I was fucking listening!" I snapped. "What the hell were you doing?"

Despite my words and the way I'd twisted my arm, putting my elbow up beneath his neck and my fist inches from his face, Kyoya didn't look the least bit disturbed. He simply eyed my hand what had to be the least impressed expression I'd ever seen.

"Are you going to hit me, or are you going to let me speak first?" he asked.

"Leaning towards hitting," I snapped.

He sighed, shoving his hand between us to adjust his glasses.

"I'm assuming you have selective hearing," he said. "Did you hear everything, or just jump to conclusions half-through?"

"Just freaking explain!"

"You might have difficulty with this, but not everything is your business, Hano-san," he replied coolly.

"It is when you're close to my sister," I retorted.

He frowned.

"I hope you don't intend of sharing your over-active imagination with Eri."

"If I have to," I replied. "I'm not letting a fucking pervert near my sister."

Something unreadable crossed his face at that. Then, he sighed once again.

"I'm not a pervert."

"Really?" I snorted, shifting my fist closer.

"Really. It's a misunderstanding, which you would know if you refrained from jumping to conclusions without the entire story. I don't suppose you saw Haruhi's expression when we left, hm?"

My hand faltered slightly.

She hadn't been scared. She'd been smiling. Kyoya smirked.

"I'll take it that you're willing to be reasonable, now?"

I held him against the wall for a moment longer before groaning and pulling my arm back. He rubbed his neck, but didn't move. Instead, he pursed his lips thoughtfully.

"I was simply explaining something to her," he said, his tone indicating that would be the end of it. My irritation rose once again, and I might have returned to our previous position if not for his next words. "Why is Eri afraid of men?"

"She's no--"

"She is," he replied. "She's content, but she flinches if we as much as brush against her without warning. She's always tense even if she is expecting to be touched. She is extremely uneasy around the two males in your house."

I bristled.

"Anyone would be--"

"Emi."

I glowered at him. He simply met my expression with an even one, then cocked his brow when a minute had ticked by without me saying anything. I cursed under my breath, then crossed my arms.

"Even if it was any of your business, which it isn't, I couldn't tell you," I snapped. "I dunno. I just know that she went to a party with Hiroshi, Kitaru, and their modeling friends, and after that the guys transferred abroad and Eri asked if we could go to an all-girl school. That's it. If you want the details, ask her. Oh, right, it's none of your business, so in reality, don't."

He sighed.

"You're going to continue to be completely unreasonable, aren't you?"

I really did hit him that time.