A Thorn on a Rose (OHSHC) (Book 2)

Chapter 19

~Kyoya's POV~
In the middle of the night, Kyoya had been woken up by some laughter. Annoyed, he slid out of bed, and walked towards the door, expecting to hear the the twins setting up a prank, but instead he heard the voices of the three teens who were his bodyguards. Listening to their conversation, he hoped to gather some useful information.

"-tell him?" The only male voice, from Rin, asked.

"What? Are you crazy-" Another voice exclaimed, and Kyoya knew he had heard that voice. Peeking out of the doorway quietly, he saw that it was Sayuri talking.

"You're only doing to to avoid anything awkward, and having to explain things. But, you probably could, very easily, explain everything. They already know you're an assassin. Just tell them about the test." Rin stated.

What could they be talking about? Kyoya wondered to himself, placing a hand to his chin and quickly grabbing his black notebook that was closed on the dresser. I could of sworn I left it open. He thought as he opened it to a page, one that had the similarities and differences between Miss Sukini and Miss. Setsushi.

"But... They'll feel like I lied to them." Sayuri's voice brought Kyoya back to the conversation they were having outside the door.

"Something tells me you're not worried about the hosts finding out, but you're worried about others." Rin consoled.

"My friends. The ones I made in the past year and a half. I... I can't stand the thought that they might hate me. They saw me stab myself, they saw me so close to death." Kyoya heard the crack in her voice, and assumed she was close to crying, "I can't stand to see their expressions when they find out I lied to them. They could hate me forever."

Stab? Isn't that what Miss. Sukini did? Kyoya thought.

There was a small shuffle of clothes, and Kyoya assumed Rin was pulling Sayuri into a hug. "Or, they could be relived that you're not dead, if they were true friends, they wouldn't hate you for being alive, Himiko."

Kyoya stopped writing in his notebook, staring at the page with shocked eyes.

"It's not very polite to eavesdrop." Someone said, and Kyoya looked up, his eyes meeting the brown ones of Kimi. They were narrowed slightly, she grabbed onto his arm and pulled him out of the doorway, getting Sayur- Himiko and Rin's attention.

~Himiko's POV~
Himiko looked over at Kyoya with wide eyes, "Y-You heard?" She asked.

"Yes, Miss Sukini. I heard everything."

Himiko froze, feeling as tears ran down her cheeks. "I-I didn't have a choice." She felt her voice crack, and she sniffed, "I-I didn't want to do it!" She wiped her eyes and felt herself fall to her knees.

"What are you talking about Miss Sukini?" Kyoya asked.

Himiko knew she had to explain everything to Kyoya, if she wanted him to leave her alone. Taking a deep breath, she managed to slightly recompose herself. "As you know, we're assassins. In order to become a full fledged assassin, we have to pass a certain test. We had to either kill our friends... Or erase ourselves from their world." She looked up at Kyoya, tears threatening to fall from her eyes. "I didn't want to kill them, I couldn't... So..."

"You erased yourself from their world, making the believe you were dead." Kyoya finished. "But that doesn't support what they said, if you had really stabbed yourself in the chest, there is no way you could survive that."

Himiko stood up and smiled sadly at him, "That's the thing." She started, "Our ribs... Aren't normal. Once we pass a certain test, we get titanium implanted into them, making us stronger, and more likely to survive fatal attacks. Though we could always bleed out to death."

"Your ribs... Are titanium?" Kyoya asked, his onyx eyes widened in shock.

Himiko nodded, "Yes. They are. Not a lot of people survive the procedure, but I guess we were some of the lucky ones."

"If you were an assassin, why were you at Ouran? Why specifically?"

Himiko looked at him, "it was a part of the last test. We had to be placed into normal society for a year and a half, totally unaware of our origins. Our memories wiped and with a blank slate. After the year and a half is up, the friends that we made are kidnapped, and if we remember our origins, then we have one of two options."

"And those are-" Kyoya started.

"Either kill your friends... Or erase yourself from their world." Himiko finished.

Kyoya had his hand to his chin, his face thoughtful. "So that's why your body wasn't found. You weren't dead. I, of course, had my own suspicions about your body not being found, though now, everything makes sense."

"Kyoya." Himiko said, getting his attention. "You have to promise not to tell anyone. I'm not ready for Miya, Tamai, and Sarai to know I'm still alive, I... I need to figure out how to break it to them slowly, and less painful."

Kyoya looked at her, "Of course. I promise."

Himiko looked at him with a smile on her face. "Thank you. I really appreciate it."