Silence is Golden (Ouran High School Host Club Fan Fiction)

Chapter Eight

“Mariko, time to wake up,” a voice whispered. “Come on.”

A soft mumble left Mariko. Her eyelids opened, revealing her violet eyes. A doctor sat on the edge of the bed, a smile beaming on his face. Slowly, she sat up, only to cause a pounding in her head.

“Careful, you hit your head on a rock when you hit the ocean,” the doctor told her, grabbing a mirror from the bedside table. “You’ve now got a nasty cut on your forehead. I’ve patched it up the best I could, but you’ll have a scar.”

He held the mirror up for Mariko to see. He was right, there was now a large cut above her right eyebrow, from her hairline to her cheekbone. It was stitched up, but was still prominent. She lifted her eyes to look at the doctor, who placed the mirror back on the table.

“You slept through dinner, but it only just finished. I recommend that you find something to eat and maybe thank Mr. Ootori. He was the one who saved you after all. Also, you might want to take it easy. I don’t know how much damage the fall has done to you mentally.”

Mariko nodded and slid her legs out from under the blanket. She had been changed from her soaking sundress into a tank top and shorts. It was obviously something that Tamaki had packed for her, to get her out of her dresses.

The small girl shuffled her way out of the room, her bare feet padding against the tiled floor. She didn’t know where she was going. She had never been here before.

“Mariko,” a voice called, joy evident in their voice.

The small blonde turned to find Tamaki running towards her. He took her in his arms and spun her around. He pressed his face into her shoulder, mumbling over and over that she was safe. When he finally placed her back on the ground, he bent down and studied her.

“Are you alright?” he asked, his gaze obviously set on her cut.

Mariko nodded. “I’m fine, Brother. It’s just a cut.”

“Just a cut? Mariko, you were out for five hours.”

Mariko’s eyes widen. She knew she was out through dinner, but she didn’t expect it to be five hours. She dropped her head to the ground. She made everyone worry for that long.

“Mariko, you weren’t the only one. Haruhi was thrown off the cliff by those guys as well. It’s her own fault. She shouldn’t have tried to stand up to those guys,” Tamaki told her, leaving the end to be mumbled.

Then that boy’s words came back to her. Not worthy. Not pretty enough. Tears tried to brim in her eyes, but Mariko just pushed them back.

“But if she hadn’t, Tamaki. What would’ve happened to the other girls? What would’ve happened to me?” Mariko asked, lifting her eyes back to look at him.

“Now, that’s not fair. You can’t use yourself against me, sister.”

Mariko smiled, before grabbing his hand. “Come, I want to find Kyoya. I need to thank him.”

“Fine, I need some lotion. I have a bad sunburn.”

********

“Kyoya, do you have any lotion?” Tamaki asked, opening the door to Kyoya’s room. “This sunburn is worse than I…” He stopped. “You bastard.”

Mariko peeked around her brother’s tall form. She gasped at the sight. Kyoya was sitting on the edge of a bed, while Haruhi laid on it in a dress. The main thing that shocked her was that Kyoya was shirtless.

“Kyoya,” she mumbled, shocked.

Mariko stepped away from her brother. She knew Kyoya had left the room, passing his lotion to Tamaki. Tamaki walked into the room, leaving Mariko alone in the corridor. Kyoya turned towards Mariko.

“Mariko,” he whispered. “I promise you that nothing happened.”

Mariko shook her head. “No.” She didn’t trust him. He was just like those boys today. He couldn’t come near her. He might do the same thing to her that he did to Haruhi.

“Mariko,” he said again, reaching for her.

She squealed and ran for it. She didn’t even know where she was going. She wasn’t used to this place and its corridors.

********

“Mariko,” Kyoya yelled, running after Mariko.

He knew where she was running. It was one of his family’s holiday houses, he had been here plenty of times. He knew this home well enough to know that Mariko was backing herself into a dead end. The corridor she was turning into had no other exit. She was stuck.

“Mariko, you aren’t getting anywhere,” he said, louder enough for the small girl to here. “You need to calm down before something happens.”

A sharp intake of air told Kyoya that she had reached the dead end. He picked up his pace, stopping a metre before her. Her fragile body was shaking and her hands were both pressed against her temples. She was having another panic attack.

“Mari,” he whispered, using an old nickname that Tamaki had for her. Kyoya had never used it himself, but he knew Tamaki often used it when his sister was having a panic attack. “Calm down, Mari.”

She wasn’t listening to him. She wasn’t going to calm down. The doctor had warned him about this. He had specifically told each of the host club not to trigger Mariko’s panic attacks or it could be a huge danger to her health, especially after she fell into the ocean from such a height.

Mariko squeezed her eyes tight, mumbling something over and over to herself. Her hands pressed harder against her temples.

Then, in the blink of an eye, it happened.

Her hands slipped from the sides of his head and her legs crumbled beneath her. Kyoya rushed to catch her, lifting her into his arms. Mariko was limp in his arms, almost as though she was a rag doll. This wasn’t meant to happen. Nothing was meant to happen to her. He had promised her that and now, he had broken that promise.