It's My Life, Not Yours (Ouran High School Host Club)

The Man In The Park

"Stupid Takashi..." I mumbled to myself as I walked home. It may seem weird to you that I walk home every day, but I enjoy it. Not to mention it gives me something to do since my family never lets me really do anything. As I walked, I kept kicking a small stone, keeping it in front of me.

These rules that applied only to me were completely unfair. Why only me? Just because I'm the only girl and I happen to hate almost all things girly and ladylike? Whatever the reason, everyone always told me it was to help me become a proper lady. As if that were even the slightest bit important. The only thing I really wanted was to practice martial arts like my older brothers. Of course, even being a Morinozuka, I was denied any chances to really learn.

I remember when I was little, I used to watch Takashi when he would practice. Sometimes I would ask him to show me how to do some of the things I'd seen him do. If it were something very simple, he would sometimes teach it to me. But one day he just stopped and became the way he is now. I never even got to know why.

Walking along, I passed by the same park I always did. But today, something was off. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a shady-looking man talking to a little girl. She looked no older than elementary school age and definitely wasn't from Ouran. The little girl started to walk away from him with a scared look on her face, but he grabbed a hold of her arm.

I couldn't just stand there and do nothing. Rushing over, I separated him from the child. He turned his focus to me as she ran off. "Weren't you taught not to touch little girls?" I asked him in a threatening voice. Even if I knew very little when it came to fighting, I was sure I could take this guy on. I'm a Morinozuka, so it's in my blood, right? At least, that was what I hoped.

"Weren't you taught to mind your own business?" he argued as he roughly grabbed at my arm. I responded by kicking him in the stomach. We continued back at forth like that, neither of us really doing any real damage to the other. I had greatly underestimated his strength and skill.

Eventually, it resulted in my arm being twisted behind my back while he pushed me face-first against a nearby tree. "You're quite a pain," he growled at me. I struggled to get loose, but it didn't do any good. "Maybe I'll just-"

Before he'd even had a chance to say the rest, he was pulled off of me. Turning around and sitting at the base of the tree, I watched my attacker tangle with my rescuer. I was a little surprised that it had been Mitsukuni though. He was even alone. "How's it feel to get your ass kicked by a little boy who carries around a stuffed bunny?" I shouted at the man who had attacked me as he ran away.

After the man had run off, Mitsukuni knelt down in front of me. "Are you okay Tokiko-chan?"

If I didn't hate him like I did, I'd probably have hugged him and thanked him. But no, I disliked the small blonde Haninozuka. It always seemed like Takashi cared more about him than he did me. Of course, despite hating him, I did admire his martial arts skills. If Takashi weren't so close to him, maybe we could have been friends. Maybe even more than that, assuming that I didn't hate him.

When he held out his hand, offering to help me up, I just slapped it away. "I didn't need your help," I said, glaring at him. Standing up, I pushed past him and continued on my way home.

I had said that I didn't need help, yet I really had needed his help. Being how I was, I just didn't want to admit it. It was just like how I didn't want to admit that I admired his abilities and was actually quite jealous of him. That was just the way I was.

I shouldn't have needed his help, I told myself. This only proved my point about the rules my family had being wrong. Because I couldn't properly defend myself, I had to rely on whoever happened to be walking by. I was lucky it had been someone I knew this time.

As I thought about it more as I made my way home, I couldn't help but feel like this wasn't over. This was only the first time I would run into that man. I could only hope that this feeling was wrong; that I would never go through this again. Though there was one fact that kept me from ignoring this: whenever I had a feeling like this, it was always right. If that was true, then I might just have to go against my family's rules; something that I had never intended to do, despite how many times I may have threatened to.