The Truth About the Girl With the Broken Smile [Ouran Host Club] (Editing)

I Don't Like Your Human

                I felt like venom. Without even trying, I’d gotten between two of the most amazing people I’d ever had the pleasure of knowing. I clasped the microphone in both hands taking a deep breath. The violins started up, the bells echoed in and out casting a woeful gloom to the room. A few girls turned to see what was happening. Boys scrambled to the front of the stage Tamaki and Kyoya had put up themselves only hours before. I inhaled and exhaled slowly, trying to cool my nerves. My body flushed with a wave of emotions. Fragments of my past flickered across my memory like a broken reel. I shook my head, feeling the lyrics on the tip of the tongue.

                I spit out the first stanza, letting my voice rise and fall with the vibrato of the melody. The chorus hummed along with me, matching each pitch perfectly. I swayed my hips from side to side. My face prickled with heat. I choked back tears and moved carefully across the stage. The violins danced around wildly, crying out in pain. The bells lulled, bobbing energetically along with me. I bit my bottom lip.

                When did our innocence corrupt? When did they become so sad? When did I become so lonely? Unable to trust. I watched our past together fly across me. The day I accidently stumbled into the music room. The time they caught me singing alone, when they confronted me, how they gave me my necklace without expecting an explanation in response. Living with them, my date, the kiss.

                Steal my breath away

Hurt me more today

Try to picture my escape

But I’m caught in the prison.

                I’m only human. Just human.

                The girls cooed and awed in synch with each other. I puffed out steam, sashaying my way back to center stage. I hummed along with them, spitting out the last of the lyrics. I opened my eyes. Everyone remained silent. Stunned. A slow clap erupted across the room. I let out a sheepish smile and shrugged. It all felt surreal. I was in a daze as I slipped off stage. Hikaru and Kaoru had stopped fighting enough to acknowledge my existence. I glided right past them, rubbing my goosebump infested arms.

                I couldn’t believe I’d sang the song. I couldn’t believe it was real. I doubted myself, I doubted everything. I hadn’t sang the song since Karma and Kassandra. What had I done? What if they found out? I messaged my temples.

No.

                It needed to be done. If not for the boys, then for myself. I needed to release my emotions. It was the only way I knew how to.

                I grasped the brass knob and twisted the door open. The cheering continued as I slid the door back into position. I could hear their echoes in the hallways. My brain felt numb. It hurt to think, but thinking was the only thing I could do. Where could I sleep tonight? Could I go home, or would Haruhi take me back? Did the Hitachiins want me?

                My insides were lit on fire. Kaoru. Did he believe his brother? Did my song have any effect on him at all? I pressed two fingers to my lips and backed into the marble wall. I slid down, curling my knees into my chest. Why did it matter? I wasn’t sure, but I knew it did. I cared about what he thought of me more than anything in the world.

                “Indie?” Haruhi’s voice broke the barrier to my ears. Worry painted her face in fine lines. I tried my hardest to smile as she poked her head out the door. “What’s wrong?”

                I shook my head. She slipped out, quietly shutting the door behind her. She crouched down beside me, tucking her short hair back behind her ear. “Pretty powerful song, right?”