The Scars Unseen (OHSHC)

Chapter 18- The Hosts at the Beach

I stood on the edge of the beach looking around slightly grumpily; I had been so excited to come here and relax with my family, but sadly, Kyoya made this into a club activity, which sadly included the clientele and not just the Hosts. I wandered to an umbrella that had been set up and sat down.

'I guess it's not that bad, if you close your eyes, it just sounds like a nearly empty beach with an overabundance of sea gulls.' I could never get used to how noisy the girls were, especially when a little bit more of the Hosts' skin was shown. I pulled out another one of the books I had snitched from the Ootori's library, grateful that there was a chance to get some peace and quiet.

"Risa?" I looked up and saw one of the girls standing in front of me, "Why aren't you in the water? Do you not like to swim?" She looked like she was expecting me to snap her head off for asking such simple questions.

"I love to swim, I just wanted to sit in the shade until my sunscreen dried; I didn't know the beach was so beautiful, but I would prefer not to start the day off with a sunburn!" We both smiled a little at that, then to my surprise, she sat down as well and started talking to me.

"I always see you in the club, but I noticed you almost never talk to anyone, and that includes the Hosts. You seem to be really solitary and I was wondering if there was a reason why?"

I looked at her a bit shocked, "Really? I hadn't noticed. I guess it's just easy for me to get lost in my thoughts; plus, I'm playing the piano most of the time, which makes it hard to interact a lot. I guess that you could say that I am a major introvert with a license to hide!"

She laughed when I said that then said, "Well, would you please go swimming with me? You seem really nice, and I would love to get to know you more." I really wanted to say no so that I could be alone, but then I remembered something Kyoya said before we left to the beach.

Flashback

"Risa, I need to ask you to try and get outside of yourself more. I know that your reading is your way of protecting yourself, but lately, that's all you've done." I frowned at him as he took me away from my book, "Risa, all of the Hosts want to see you smile again, but the more you hide, the less life we see in you. Please make at least some effort to open up, when you do that you will finally be able to heal."

I wanted to brush him off like I had done with most of his other pleadings over the last little while, but there was something in his serious expression. I sighed, "I know Kyoya, I need to get out more, and I promise I'll try, it's just that the thought really scares me, I know that books are safe, and I know that I won't get hurt while reading them; in real life, I have no guarantees that that is the case. It almost physically hurts to open up, but I promise I'll try."

Kyoya's gaze softened and he stepped forward to pull me into a hug; as of late, he had been getting much more comfortable with touching me. I wasn't about to complain though; ever since I had been taken from my father's house, I had been craving human contact, but I was scared to seek it out at the same time, it felt nice.

Flashback Over

I nodded a bit reluctantly, then stood up and we walked to the water's edge. When I stepped in the water I jumped at how cold it was and I giggled a little, "I always imagined that the sea would be a certain way when I was younger, but this is a lot colder than I thought it would be!" The girl and I laughed a bit together and I called out to her quickly before I forgot, "Hey, I'm sorry this sounds like a jerk thing to say, but what is your name?"

"Isabel Amari, my parents were from Japan originally, but I was born in England. We just moved back a year ago, which has been a really good experience, after you get past how scary it can be!"