The Roses of Ouran High School

Chapter Eight: A Test Of Strength, Or Should I Say Courage?

-The Next Day (Meara's POV)-

It's the end of the day when I'm walking towards the host club room. I'm lost in thought and Haruhi was walking next to me. I kept walking and realized we were now standing a few feet away from music room three. I stopped walking and looked at Haruhi, feeling as though something was off. 'Something's not right. I can't place my finger on it, but there is something up.' I watched as Haruhi opened the door and my eyes widen in shock. The club room has been overtaken by swimsuits. I watched as the twins harassed Haruhi. They were telling her that the club would be going to the beach and were trying to tell her to wear the swimsuit they picked out for her. I smiled and stifled a laugh. Unfortunately for me, this drew their attention to me. I shrank back as they held a green swimsuit that was really revealing in front of me. I blushed and tried to run away from them. As I was running, I heard Honey say something. I looked over and saw him dragging a manikin to the twins. I stopped my running and watched their interaction. "I think Meara-chan would look really cute in this one though!" Honey protested. "But Honey-sempai, that suit will hid all the curves that Meara has! The one we chose will show off her body," The twins countered. My blush intensified and I looked around the room. My wandering eyes found Haruhi now being harassed by Tamaki and Kyoya typing away on his laptop. Mori was among the swimsuits looking at a blackish-reddish one that had seashells on the top. My blush grew some more and I sat down on a couch. "Guys, I hope you realize I'm not going to swim," I mumbled. Mori looked over at me and nodded. I hid behind my hair and waited for everyone to get situated. -At The Beach-
I was sitting on a towel. The club eventually left me be when they realized I wasn't going in the ocean. I watched as Tamaki started complaining about Haruhi having to say dressed. I chuckled. 'Just like Kyoya to decide to bring the guests along. I suppose Haruhi is sorta glad though, she doesn't have to show more skin than needed with the other hosts around.' We have already been here a few minutes and I was reading a book and listening to some music. I brought my attention back to my book.
-Third POV-
As Meara continued reading, a song that she really liked came on. Without realizing it, she began singing to herself. "Wake up, wake up. People getting on, gonna rock your body," she sang softly. Her eyes closed and her fingers started tapping to the beat. The rest of the host club paused and looked at the red haired girl, wondering what was going on in her head right then. "Stand up stand up, we moving all the way to the top. We flying high, to the sky, and we land on the dance floor. Right, tonight. We will blow this club away," Her voice was getting stronger as she forgot about everything else. By now the guest had noticed the singing and we smiling. Some were even dancing. "From Rio to Jamaica, we are the party shakers. So welcome everybody, let's party tonight. We'll sip until we're wasted, they call us trouble makers. but we just like to party and party tonight." The tallest of the hosts sat near his cousin with his eyes closed, listening to Meara's clear sweet voice. A smile on his face. Meara must have noticed something though because she stopped singing and opened her eyes.
-Meara's POV-
I opened my eyes and they widened. Everyone was somewhat near me. I looked down at my Ipod and realized that I must have been singing. I blushed and hid behind my hair. In a few seconds I heard clapping and felt someone pat my head. I knew who it was without looking up. It seems to be quite common now with him. The moment of my thinking and other's clapping was thankfully over though when Honey invited Haruhi and I to go 'hellfish hunting'. "Uh Honey-sempai, I think you mean 'shellfish hunting'," Haruhi corrected, besides, it doesn't appear to be that kind of beach-" Haruhi's sentence was cut off by her own yell. At her feet where nearly thousands of shellfish, ironic part is that they weren't there a second ago. A large crab hit the floor in front of me. I looked up at the direction it came from and saw a cliff. Driven by curiosity, I wandered over to it and climbed up. I honestly shouldn't have been surprised to have found a police truck with officers. 'Hey, I recognize these guys, they're the people that accused Mori of kidnapping Honey. I guess this is their way of apologizing.' I heard a shuffling sound and looked to my left. To my utter surprise, Mori was there. I guess he was wondering what was going on as well. I climbed down and saw a cliff. 'Wow, the view must be amazing from up there,' I walked around to the base and went near the top. 'This view is amazing.' Down below, I saw Haruhi walking with a bucket and the ocean. I heard some footsteps behind me, and was surprised to see two girls had followed me up. Then, I smelled something that once haunted my dreams. The smell of alcohol. My eyes widen. "Girls, do get the hosts. Tell them there are drunk trespassers on the cliff. Run!" I warned. They ran and not a second later, two very drunk guys came up the same path the other girls went down. I looked them straight in the eye as they tried to seduce me. I rolled my eyes and heard a splat sound. The guy moved I saw Haruhi with a now empty bucket. "Haruhi, get out of here. I can handle them myself," I tried to warn. She didn't listen and was pushed off the cliff by the same guy she threw the shellfish at. "You're going to regret that," I mumbled before knocking him out. I sadly forgot about his friend though and was hit in the back of my head. My vision went cloudy and I stumbled. I stumbled, right, off, the , cliff. My eyes widened in fear as I saw the fast approaching water. I looked up and before I blacked out, I saw a strangely familiar boy with spiked black hair diving after me. Then, my vision and conscious went black.
-Third POV-
After the girls ran off to warn the host club of the impending doom. Mori raced off towards the cliff to help Meara. He got there just in time to see her get hit and stumble off the cliff. Without thinking twice, he jumped after her. He saw the look of fear on her face before her eyes closed and became worried. He grabbed onto her and softened her landing. He then got the to the surface and swam both of them to the beach where an ambulance was waiting. Mori lifted the unconscious girl and felt her stir. He smiled at the thought of her being okay and still alive before setting her down so the paramedics could check to see what damage was done. Luckily she was just unconscious and they said she would wake up pretty soon. Nothing else was wrong. The paramedics said they could take her back to the beach house but said that someone might want to keep an eye on her. Honey volunteered his cousin. Mori carefully lifted Meara and carried her back to the guest room she was staying at in Kyoya's family's each house. It was maybe thirty minutes after that, that she woke up.
-Meara's POV-
I woke up with a start. The last thing I remembered was falling at an alarming rate towards the ocean. I felt a hand on my cheek and flinched, not expecting it at all. I looked at the owner of the hand and relaxed. Mori smiled calmly at me and wiped a tear away. 'I was crying? I didn't know that.' That broke the wall I had kept up. Tears streamed down my face and Mori moved to sit on the bed. He pulled me into him and let me cry. "I-i'm sorry Mori. I don't mean to cry like this. It's just that I'm slightly afraid of the ocean and those drunk men reminded me too much of painful memories. I'm really sorry," I said, trying to stop my tears. He looked at me and said, "Don't be, you shouldn't have to try and be invincible. We all have fears." I looked at him in shock, that's the most I've heard him say yet. After that he held me as I continued to cry. Without knowing it, I started to get tired.
-The Next Morning-
I yawned. 'What time is it?' I went to turn over to look at the clock but found I couldn't. Two arms were wrapped around my waist, holding me firmly in place. My gaze followed up and was eventually meet with a face. Mori's face to be precise. My face heated up and I froze. 'Chiz! What am I supposed to do now?!?!' I looked down at his arms and tried to untangle myself from him. It didn't work. He dragged me in closer to him and my blush intensified. "Ummmm, Mori?" I asked quietly. No reply. I tried again to untangle myself and was almost successful this time. I went to get out of the bed, and Mori's hand grabbed my wrist. I looked back at him in shock. He was now sitting up. "A few more minutes?" He asks. I blinked a few times and realized that he was half asleep. "Mori, it's almost time for us to leave," I mumble, trying to hide behind my hair again. I heard a chuckle and also heard some shuffling. I felt my hair be moved out of the way and felt something warm on my forehead. 'Okay, my face must be redder then a firetruck by now! Mori just kissed my forehead!' Before I could react, Mori had smiled and left my room to go back to his. I shook my head and got all of my stuff ready to leave.
-Third POV-
While Meara was finishing packing. Mori went to retrieve something. We walked up to Kyoya and Kyoya smirked. "So you found out her fear haven't you?" He asked coyly. Mori nodded. Kyoya held out the prize that Mori had just won. Without Meara's knowledge, the twins created a game to find out Meara's and Haruhi's fears. What Mori had won was three pictures. One of Meara when she was little (A/N:The picture from Chapter One) Another was when she was first learning how to play guitar (A/N: At the top). The last one was from the last year or so and was just her smiling at the camera. (A/N:The picture of the first page). Mori took the pictures and put them in his pocket. A few minutes later, they were in the car heading back home. They were all thinking about how much fun this trip was.