Hey everyone! So this is an idea I've had for a while, but just recently started writing. It will be one of my longer stories, this is just the introduction. PLZ R&R! Reviews and comments are like hugs to the author :) I do not own any of the characters- all rights go to the creators.
THEN: (March 8th, 2016, Tokyo, Japan:
It was a normal, sunny wednesday afternoon. Everything was completely ordinary- one would have never expected what would come next. Never in a million years.
The scientists announced that the earthquake was a 9.8 ten hours after it happened. That was all it took. Ten hours. Ten hours for nearly half of Japan to be destroyed. Ten hours for almost all of Tokyo to be reduced to rubble. Ten hours of a rising death toll.
Haruhi isn't quite sure how she and her father were left unscathed throughout the catastrophe. She never really believed in luck, definitely leaning towards the more logical side of her personality, but this time she had no other explanation.
The two embraced as soon as the found each other. Ranka had been at work when it happened, and him and all the other employees were evacuated to an open field. Haruhi was at the grocery store, picking up vegetables and her favorite oolong tea, when it happened. The earth began to rumble with a strange, almost supernatural groaning sound. Earthquakes were nothing new- growing up in Japan, one quickly learned what to do in the event of one. Expecting this and nothing more, Haruhi calmly made her way outside like the rest of the shoppers. That was when the rumbling turned to roaring. Items flew off the shelves as if possessed, slabs of concrete and building material cracked and dismembered, glass shattered, and before she knew it, she found herself breathing heavily under a nearby table, hands covering her head as she waited it out.
It only lasted 12 minutes, but it felt like 12 years. She couldn't think, couldn't breathe, couldn't focus on anything else other than the constant repetitive thought; survive, survive, survive, survive… She heard the deafening crash of buildings caving in, the high pitched screams of people outside, and the guttural howl of wire cables being ripped apart from their foundation.
When it was over, she crawled out on shaky legs and didn't even spare a moment to acknowledge the fact that the grocery store was completely gone. She just ran. She ran as fast as she could, past a blurry scene of destruction. Her heartbeat crowded out most of the noise, and she ran without thinking where she was going. Somehow, though, she found her father. Another miracle, she marvels on now.
It turns out that not even all the money in the world could stand a chance against the raw power of nature. Whilst waiting with her father amidst hundreds of others for further news in a safety bunker set up by emergency crews, she learned that Ouran was completely destroyed. A cameraman had livestream footage on the TV of wreckage, and the rubble of the once enormous, elite palace of a school was indistinguishable from any other mangled building. Despite the high tech support beams and "anti-earthquake" building materials used, the site had caved in under the massive shaking and was now completely gone.
In the weeks that followed, many things happened. The initial shock set in- for her, for her father, for the people of Japan, even for the world. Over 8,000 people had died that day- most of them working in downtown Tokyo. Debris clouded the air for miles, and people mourned the destruction and chaos. Haruhi's apartment was not left unscathed, but it wasn't completely destroyed, either. With the exception of broken windows, torn pipes and a few dents in the siding, the apartment complex was still standing. It was after this that she finally got in contact with the host club.
58 students at Ouran had been trapped and killed during the quake, and the school remained a pile of ashes and dust. The seven teens embraced as soon as they found one another, even the stoic Kyoya joining in.
"It's going to be ok," Tamaki said, voice shaky as he tried to lighten the mood, "our families are combining nearly all of our savings into rebuilding Ouran and helping set up new homes for others. Right, guys?"
"Yeah," the twins announced in unison, "it's the first time we'll be below average in income, but our parents are going to release a new line of clothing in a month so that should get us back on track."
To Haruhi's utmost surprise, the seemingly cold and elite families of the hosts donated nearly all they owned to charities and the reconstruction of Ouran in the wake of the disaster. They left barely enough money to sustain themselves for the moment, and decided to earn it back later. Though she never truly met any of her friends' parents, she'd assumed without thinking that they built an empire for themselves, and themselves alone. To give so much during the darkest hour spoke volumes that she'd never paid much attention to.
"Our families are all meeting today in Shinjuku to discuss finances and where we'll go from here," Kyoya said quietly, pushing his glasses up on the bridge of his nose, "Mori and Hani senpai's family reserved the entire Keio Plaza Hotel for the conference and to provide temporary shelter to locals."
"See, Haru Chan? Everything's going to be fine. We'll be ok." Hani reassured, smile brightening up even the darkest of times.
Looking back now, Haruhi can't help but marvel at the cruelness of the timing of that statement.
That very day, aftershocks of an 8.9 magnitude swept over the country once more. It hit the city of Shinjuku the hardest. The Keio Plaza was destroyed. There were no survivors.
The earthquake of 2016 left 12,000 people dead, 100,000 injured, and 5,000 children orphaned. All the hosts except Haruhi were included in that 5,000.
In the coming days that followed, the seven children stayed under Ranka's roof. They had nowhere to go. No money, that was for sure- their parents had donated nearly everything away, and were about to earn it back before…
They each grieved in their own individual way, though Haruhi was astonished at the general strength each boy possessed and the manner in which they handled themselves. The twins cried silently for the first two days after, and never let go of the other's hand. Haruhi attributed their closeness to easing the pain of losing their parents. Losing her mother was hard enough- Haruhi could never imagine losing both.
Mori and Hani mourned together, much like Hikaru and Kaoru but in a more parent-and-child way. Mori never let go of his younger cousin, and Haruhi assumed that however strong his protectiveness over Hani was before, it was tenfold of that now.
Kyoya took everything the hardest by far. His loss was greater. Not only were his parents in attendance at Keio, but his three elder brothers and sister Fuyumi as well. The once regarded 'shadow king' was fallen. He didn't speak a word after he received the news. Perhaps the most frightening and worrisome of all, though, was that he didn't cry. Not a single tear. His face just turned pale, his posture set permanently rigid, and he absolutely refused to let go of Tamaki. Everything the two did, they held hands. Tamaki quickly set aside his own pain for the sake of his friend, and committed all of his effort into taking care of Kyoya.
It was like something straight out of a movie. From riches to rags, Haruhi mused sadly, they're no longer the most powerful family in Japan. In fact, they're no long 'rich' at all. And it was true. They had allowed their parents to use their savings money and it had all been donated to the rebuilding of Ouran and the maintenance of shelters across the country. They were broke, they were homeless, and they were completely alone. Haruhi couldn't wrap her mind around it- the fact that just a few weeks ago, she'd ridden in a limo they owned, gone to a beach they bought, and watched their many maids and butlers help prepare dinner. Now, they were just like her. In fact, they had less. No, she thought determinedly, we have each other.
The Rebuilding Lives foundation was an American program that had rushed in with the red cross as soon as the earthquake hit. It was what Kyoya would have called a 'one stop shop' organization. It's goal was to send as many families as possible to a paid for house in the states until Japan improved. It was run completely on donations and charity grants, and what a surprise, the single parent with seven orphaned children in a two room cramped apartment was at the top of their list.
The woman arrived in the middle of a mid morning prayer session. The eight were all kneeling before a makeshift memorial built to commemorate all their parents, comprised of a few spare candles, paper cutout pictures of the deceased, and the prettiest lilac blooms Haruhi could find growing on the tree outside. The three days had been awful- Haruhi was in tears when she wasn't holding one of her friends or being comforted by her father, who, to the utmost pride and love of Haruhi, had insisted on taking all the boys in.
"I didn't know any of your parents," he'd said the first day, "I've never met them. But I know that they must've been very generous, kind, and respectable people to have raised such brave young men. I know I cannot replace them, and I would never try to. I would be grateful to honor them by taking you boys in- I am in your debt for the happiness you have brought my daughter, and I will be forever thankful to all of you."
The man almost tore his best skirt when all the boys dogpiled on him, hugging him silently before composing themselves and bowing politely. Haruhi continued to be amazed- despite the sudden shock of going from kings to commoners, they never once complained about the dull clothing or lack of luxuries. They were humble and kind, accepting everything Ranka gave them. She wasn't sure if their placency was due to their being consumed by grief or if reality had smacked them hard enough to silence any protests they would have voiced.
They were about to light the first candle on the memorial when there was a knock at the door. Ranka looked apologetically to all of them and grumbled as he stood up, adjusting his blouse and hair extensions. "Who could it be now, right in the midst of all this, impolite…" He muttered and grumbled underneath his breath as he opened the slightly unhinged door.
An American woman with a kind face and a red cross clipboard greeted him. Ranka's english was nearly non-existant, so Haruhi had to translate. The rest listened from the living room, eyes widening as they heard the conversation unfold.
There was nothing left for them in Japan, and with the consent of all the teens, Ranka Fujioka signed two forms. One officially registered the boys as adopted, so to make all legal matters less complicated than they needed to be. The second was a plane ticket to Los Angeles, California, where they'd be greeted with a house in the suburbs, paid for by the Rebuilding Lives Foundation, and a job at a book publishing building for Ranka. Everything happened in a whirlwind; The very next day, the eight of them piled into a van and drove to the airport, which was packed out the door with people clamoring to leave the ragged country. With heavy hearts and reluctant thoughts, they each held hands as they boarded the air bus that would take them to a life they never imagined they'd be living.
NOW: (some miles over Los Angeles, CA,.)
Haruhi opened her eyes groggily, and her dad smiled at her from his seat across the row. "Wakey wakey, sleepyhead. We're just about to land."
Haruhi looked to see her friends sleeping, Hikaru and Kaoru leaning against one another, Tamaki and Kyoya holding hands, and Mori and Hani under one big blanket. She turned to look out the window, letting the brilliant sunshine bath her face as she beheld the new life that lay before them.