Brilliant Red Love (An Ouran Highschool Host Club Fanfic)

Chapter Fifteen: Akane Has -----Pteronarcophobia?

Haruhi looked over at Akane. "Hey, are you not hungry? You're not eating much."

Akane placed another raspberry in her mouth and chewed. "I'm fine. It's just another of those times where I don't have an appetite."

Haruhi sighed. "If you say so." She went back to her tuna.

Suddenly, Akane felt a pair of hands on her shoulders. "Hmm?" She mumbled around a raspberry in her mouth, glancing up. Her eyes met with the golden eyes of the twins.

"Oh, hey Hikaru. Kaoru. Whatsup?"

"Me and Kaoru are playing this game. Wanna join?"

Akane swallowed in berry. "Game? Explain the rules."

"Well, there can be as many players as we want. It's simple; we hand you something that you have to guard for twenty-four hours. The other players try to take it from you."

"And if they do take it from me?"

"Whoever takes it from you wins and gets to have you do whatever they want." Hikaru smirked.

Akane frowned. "Fine. Nothing inappropriate, okay? And if I win, you get to do the dishwashing for the day."

"Sure."

She smirked right back at the twins. "You are so on, then."

The twins grinned identical evil grins. "Excellent."

Hikaru passed Akane a small golden bell. "You'll guard this bell for the day, starting at noon time. The game will be over at noon time tomorrow. Right now, it's eleven fifty-five."

Akane took the bell and wrapped the red ribbon around her index finger. "How exactly are you gonna try to take this from me?"

"Anything. Rob your pocket. Jump on you and force it from your grasp. Anything."

"Then I hope you won't mind my self-defense."

"That's the thing; no self defense. You can run away, but no punches or kicks or whatever martial arts trick you have up your sleeve."

Akane frowned. "Fine." 

Her watch beeped, signaling noon time. Without a second to lose, she sprinted from the music room and out the window, racing across the courtyard and plunging into the maze, the bell jingling in her fist.

Akane dove into the roses as the sound of the twins' pounding feet drew close. She silently cussed at the rose thorns digging themselves into her skin as the twins ran right by where she was hiding.

The sound of their footsteps faded, and Akane pulled herself out into the open, yanking a thorn that had stuck into her elbow, cursing before wiping the tiny bead of blood that appeared. At least the twins were gone now.

But why did they come up with this game, anyway? Surely making their own beds for the first time in their life wasn't bad enough so that they'd want her to do it for them. But who knows?

She leaned her head back, looking over the walls of the maze. Hmm. Maybe eight to ten feet up. Easy. Crouching down on all fours, she bunched up her legs, then pushed off the ground and launched herself into the air, landing on the top of the maze wall. She stood up, balancing cautiously on the rose vines, twisted around the wooden frame to create the thick wall.

The twins were running around aimlessly about thirty feet away, now apparently searching for the exit rather than herself. An idea popped into her mind, and she chuckled to herself before jumping from wall to wall, picking her way to the twins.