After All
Chapter One
Realizing
Disclaimer: I don't own Ouran Host Club though I really wish I did … cause then I wouldn't end it on such a blooming cliffhanger!!!!
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Haruhi sat in the unused music room on the top floor of the south wing at the end of the north hallway, in what used to be the Host Club. There were customers that were slowly saying good-bye to their favorites and everyone else but she was just on autopilot. It was frustrating her that she couldn't get Tamaki and … that … girl out of her head. What she walked in on, what he said and why she couldn't stop thinking about the ripping pain that she had felt when she saw them together and at the announcement.
"Why can't I stop thinking about it?" Haruhi asked herself quietly. She was a smart girl, a scholarship student at a rich and prestige school no less, but she just couldn't figure this out. An odd idea came to her mind but something inside her was nagging at her, just to think on it.
Sighing, she humored herself and thought on it. After literally hours, she finally got up and when she reached for the door handle, her eyes just filled with tears, something that was unusual for her. She finally knew why she was in so much pain; she loved Tamaki.
After all of the time she had spent with him and the host club, she had fallen for the host club king without even knowing it and now, the thought of never seeing her blond haired first love was ripping her apart.
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Days later, Haruhi was still just sitting in her room, looking at the picture she had secretly kept of the host club and sighed, day in, day out without hardly eating a bite. She really was just a mindless robot and even when the other members came over, all she really did was talk quietly and nod, really out of sheer manners.
Haruhi's dad was growing more and more concerned about his only child. He had known long before she did of her feelings and especially Tamaki's feelings for her but had stayed quiet, knowing that they would eventually figure it out. He never suspected that something like this would happen and it pained him to see his Haruhi so depressed.
She hadn't even been this depressed when her mother had died, making him even more concerned about his daughter. Ryoji knocked softly on Haruhi's door and slowly opened it, sighing at the sight he saw. Sure, it was cute but … it was really pleasing.
Haruhi looked up, the picture still in her hand and her nose a little red and shiny; a few spare tears still slowly rolling down her cheeks. Quickly, she hid the picture and wiped her face, putting on a very fake smile to give her father.
"Um, hi dad." Her father frowned a little and walked further into the room, sitting down on the bed.
"Are you alright, Haruhi? How are you feeling?" The previous day, she had told him that she wasn't feeling very well and was going to stay home from school. He knew it was a lie and he knew what the real problem was but if Haruhi didn't want to tell him then he probably didn't have a right to pry.
"A little worse than yesterday. Sorry dad, I'll try to do some cleaning or something while you're at work." He nodded and stood, walking to the door and pausing.
"Haruhi … you don't have to hide things from me, you know. I'm here to talk, even if I'm just your dad and you don't think that I'll understand." Haruhi's eyes widened and her chin trembled a little bit.
Her father sighed a little and only took a few steps before he stopped, turning just in time to catch his daughter. At first, he really didn't know what to do; Haruhi had never really shown her emotions to him and didn't get upset easily. Slowly, he just put his arms around her and held her, not knowing what else to do.
After a while, her sobs slowly quieted and he smiled down at her a little.
"You know, I'll take today off and we can spend it together." Haruhi shook her head. She didn't want to burden him with her problems; she'd always been independent.
"No. Don't. Just … I'll be fine." He looked to her with a frown.
"Are you sure?" Haruhi nodded and gave him a smile.
"I'm sure. If you don't leave now, you'll be late for work." He nodded and gathered his things, stopping in the doorway, looking at his daughter who only waved with a smile. Sighing, he shut the door behind him and walked away.
Once Haruhi was sure that he was gone, she slumped against a wall with a sigh. She felt like crying, oh how she felt like crying but she just didn't have any tears left to cry.
"Tamaki … you idiot. Why didn't you just let her go alone? Everyone loves the host club! I love the host club! And … and … I love you, too … " She drew her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs, sobbing into the fabric of her pajamas.
Kyoya sighed a little bit, letting his arm down. He was just about to knock on the door when he heard Haruhi's little outburst. He had his suspicions earlier on but he never thought that it ran so deeply. Deep enough to make Haruhi miss days of school.
For a long while, Kyoya just stood at the door, trying to decide whether or not to go in or just leave. Looking at the numbers on the door, he sighed again and pressed the round button that sent a little jingle to the inhabitants of the small apartment.
Haruhi wiped her eyes and stood, figuring it was the landlady or someone from the building wondering if she had something like sugar or something. Opening the door, her eyes rested on the tall and certainly handsome vice president or shadow king of the used-to-be host club.
"K-Kyoya … " Kyoya looked down to the girl and decided. She was the only person who could bring that idiot back. Tamaki was essential to everyone that he came in contact with, especially the members of the host club. Haruhi loved him, he was really the only true friend that Kyoya himself had had, and he had encouraged Hunny to enjoy cute things again and he had befriended the twins, giving them their first friend.
"You're the only one who can bring him back, Haruhi." He watched the girl's eyes widen and she stepped back a little, as he expected but he never expected her to shut down on him already.
Haruhi took her hands and drew them to herself, not looking at him and trying to fight off the new wave of intense sadness, slowly shaking her head.
"I can't. I can't. I can't … I can't bring him back. For starters, I don't have a passport so I wouldn't be able to get to France and even if I did end up going, how was I suppose to find him? I don't know where he lives or anything like that." Kyoya shook a little bit and he grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to look into his eyes.
"You're the only one, Haruhi. You're the only one he'll listen to, who can talk some sense into that idiot. Everyone needs him. You need him, Hunny and Mori need him, and Hikaru and Kaoru need him. I need him." Haruhi's gasp told him everything he needed to know and he let go of her shoulders, brushing himself off a little and turning towards the door again.
"Think about it. Come to school tomorrow if you want to go through with this. If I don't see you at the host club room tomorrow then I won't bother you again." With that, he closed the door and walked down to his car.
Haruhi just stood, staring at the space where Kyoya had been. Slowly, determination filled her and she rushed into her room, packing the suitcase she'd had since she was about ten. Kyoya was right. He was usually right, but that wasn't the point. The point was that he was right about everyone needing that idiot Tamaki, including her. She would have denied it if he hadn't of admitted that he needed him, too. Not just her and the host club but the shadow king needed the king.
She was going to find him and bring him back if it was the last damn thing she did.
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Haruhi walked to the unused music room on the top floor of the south wing at the end of the north hallway, in what used to be the Host Club where she turned the handle, half expecting to see everyone in some crazy get up or one of Tamaki's latest schemes but, the door just opened to a bunch of depressed looking teenagers.
Her presence, however, seemed to revive everyone. As she fielded questions and keep everyone from prying into her suitcase, Kyoya stepped up and everyone just parted to either side, letting him through.
"So you've decided?" Haruhi nodded. From his clipboard, he handed her a passport, some pamphlets, a plane ticket and two rolls of money, one for when she was at the airport here and for her own spending pleasure in France. She studied it for a minute but promptly put everything in her coat pocket.
"I'll drive with you to the airport, your flight leaves in a few hours." Haruhi nodded again and followed Kyoya out of the room and out the steps into what was easily the most expensive car she had ever been in.
They rode in silence until they reached the airport and even when they got to the gate. Haruhi turned and looked up at Kyoya and she smiled for the first real time in days.
"I'll bring him back." Kyoya nodded a little and smiled.
"Be sure that you do." Then he watched her turn and go through the gate, soon going out of sight completely. Sighing, he walked back to the car.
"I hope that you do, Haruhi. I really hope so."
Sometime later, Haruhi was watching as the stars and the clouds pass them by. She would occasionally look around the plane at all the families and the couples and even just people going there for some kind of business trip. Most of the children were sleeping but a few of them were up, playing some kind of game or listening to music.
She had brought her music player as well, which she was thankful for. The person she had ended up sitting beside snored like it was going out of style so she managed to drown them out.
She did hear a little boy giggle behind her and she looked to the window, seeing his reflection in the glass. He looked exactly like Tamaki except that he was, obviously, not Tamaki and was just a small child.
"Mother, when we get home, do you think we could go to the park with father?" The little boy questioned with laughing eyes and a happy smile.
The mother returned her sons expression and smiled softly at him with a small nod.
"I don't see why not. I'm sure he'll be happy to see you." The boy laughed and smiled even more.
"I can't wait to see father!" Haruhi sighed inwardly and looked out the window, wondering if Tamaki was like that when he was a kid. Putting her head back, her eyes slowly closed and she fell asleep, thinking of Tamaki as a child and wondering if perhaps his childhood was happy one.
Later, a jolt awoke her and she looked around frantically, scared that she might of missed getting off or something but relaxed when she realized that they were only just landing.
To her amazement, you could see the Eiffel Tower from the airport. She watched the ground as it came to meet them and fell the plane bounce once then twice then slowly come to a stop. She watched as the flight attendants walked about and once the plane came to stop, guided everyone off the plane.
Walking into the lobby, she heard some French announcer's voice boom all over the airport and Haruhi just stared out the large windows at France. It looked absolutely frigid out and she was thankful that she'd worn warm clothes. Taking a piece of paper from her pocket, it stated the hotel Kyoya had booked for her and her stomach growled.
Sighing, she just shook her head and headed to one of the airport restaurants where she got a meal with no real trouble.
"Maybe the language barrier isn't as big as I first thought." She said to herself, putting her garbage from the meal into the garbage and heading outside, watching some people hail a taxi but, to her surprise, there was someone standing beside a expensive looking car, holding a sign with her name on it.
The driver looked to her as she approached.
"Are you Haruhi Fujioka?" Haruhi nodded a little, a little surprised when he lowered the sign and opened the door for you.
"I am your personal taxi, as requested by Master Kyoya." Sweatdropping a little, Haruhi climbed in, watching the door shut.
"Should've figured that he would do something like this. Oh well, I suppose it's better than trying to get a taxi in a foreign country like this. Not to mention trying to get around." Something like a whirring sound made her look up and where there was black glass before her was now open and exposed to the front, where the driver was.
"Are you wanting to go to your hotel or to the Suoh estate first?"
Haruhi blinked a little and then looked out the window in though. What should she do first? Her stomach knotted a little and she gave a sigh of resolve. Might as well do the hardest thing first.
"If it isn't any trouble then the Suoh estate. Thank you." The driver smiled and nodded, turning back to the wheel. Pulling away from the curb, that was the end of the conversation.
Later, Haruhi was watching the scenery as it passed her by, growing more and more anxious by the minute. What would she say when she got there? What would she tell him?
"Well, here we are, Miss Fujioka." The drivers voice penetrated her thoughts and she looked up at a grand mansion that was easily two or three times the size of the apartment building she lived in.
Climbing out as the door was opened for her, she stood, staring at it for a minute. It was really now or never … right? But … she was so nervous and what if he wasn't even home? He could be out somewhere with that … person. The memory of finding the two together game back to her and she nearly lost her resolve.
"I'm sure it'll be fine, Miss Fujioka." Haruhi looked up into the driver's kind and smiling face and nodded a little. He was right. This was what she came all the way here for, after all and it'd be pointless to turn back now. Besides, everyone back home was counting on her to bring that idiot back.
Straightening her spine, she walked up to the door, ringing the fancy doorbell and trying to stop her legs from shaking. A few seconds later, the huge door swung open and an old, gray man was standing in its place.
"Can I help you?" Haruhi nodded a little bit, telling herself to calm down. It was only the butler after all and if she couldn't get past some butler then what was that saying for her?
"Yes. I'm here to see Tamaki." The butler gave an indifferent nod and stepped aside, letting her step in. Haruhi quickly scooted past the butler and took a quick look around. It was really nice … nicer than the school ever looked but that was probably because it was someone's house. Well, she couldn't really call it a house since it was easily ten times bigger than any house she'd ever been in.
"H-Haruhi?" Tamaki's voice brought her back and she spun around in the direction of the voice. There he was, standing on the landing of a huge staircase and Haruhi's heart leaped up. Slowly, she smiled.
"Hey, Tamaki." She mentally smacked herself. She came all the way to France and all she could say was 'Hey Tamaki'?!
"What are you doing here?" Haruhi fidgeted a little, which surprised Tamaki. Never in his entire time of knowing her had he known her to fidget.
"Um … well … everyone at the Host club really misses you … " Damn it! Why couldn't she just come out and say it? Tamaki looked at the floor with a sad smile.
"Yeah? I miss everyone, too … " The expression on his face made her want to cry but she just smiled happily. Just as she was going to say something, someone cut in.
"Tamaki, darling, who are you talking to?" Haruhi gulped a little when she saw the same girl from before. Tamaki looked to her and nodded a little.
"Éclair, this is my friend Haruhi, from the Host club." Éclair looked through her weird binoculars at Haruhi and even though she couldn't see her eyes, Haruhi could feel the glare of hatred projected at her.
"You mean the commoner?" Tamaki nodded a little.
"Yes." Haruhi gave a smile out of politeness. Éclair ignored her and the smile and only turned to Tamaki.
"Well, say good-bye to your peasant friend, Tamaki, we have things to go over." Tamaki nodded a little and waited until she had walked away and out of earshot before closing the space between him and Haruhi.
"The Host club is over now, Haruhi. You should just go back home." With that said, he walked away slowly, following after Éclair.
Haruhi was so shocked that she barely registered being led out the door and having it shut in her face. Before she could fight it, tears were streaming down her face and her body was shaking with suppressed sobs.
"Ta … Tamaki … you … you … idiot … TAMAKI … YOU … YOU IDIOT!!!!"Haruhi ran down the path and past her waiting car, running and running until she couldn't see that place anymore. Stopping, she finally fell to her knees, her hands in fists as tears feel freely down to the now wet concrete.
Her driver came up and put her jacket over her shoulders, helping her into the back of the car and finally driving away.
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Tamaki stood at the window on the second floor, watching the rain come down and watching the best thing that had ever happen to him run away. With a sigh, his eyes fell on a picture of his mother and he picked it up, studying it.
Putting it back, he walked out of the room, shaking his head slightly.
"I really am an idiot."
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A/N: Well, I thought I'd branch out from my usual fanfics and I'm sorry for the huge, huge, huge delay and I'm so thankful to everyone for being patient with me!!
This fanfic doesn't really contain spoilers … well … sort of … at the very beginning, maybe. I don't really know if that would be considered a spoiler or not, lol. xD
Anywho … I strongly recommend this anime/manga and I believe you can buy the manga in bookstores … -ponders- I bought the first three books at Chapters (and they were 20 off! Yay!)
You can watch the anime on youtube so I strongly recommend that you go and check it out! Ouran High School Host Club is the full title of it, lol.
Thanks to everyone for sticking with me! I'm trying my very best to be able to update even though my attempts are currently failing … -sob-