Haruhi Fujioka took the stairs two at a time, her breath coming out in uneven pants. "Oh no, I'm going to be late!" She thought to herself. "Kyoya sempai is going to murder me!"
Her footfalls were the only ones to be heard throughout this empty section of Ouran Acadamy. By now she had memorized the path to the abandoned music room, but even though she was sprinting, it seemed to take twice as long. Oh that cursed place, where her soul had been sold to pay off petty debt! No matter how hard she tried, she always seemed to mess something up that ended up making her amount owed even greater. And being late certainly wouldn't help things.
Never would she admit to the terrible thought that the feeling of dread that came when she had host club duties was also accompanied by a certain warm glow in her heart.
The doors flew open and she stumbled inside the music room, screaming,"I'm here!" with her last reserve of breath. Then she doubled over, hands on knees, and gasped for air. Funny, Kyoya's slithering voice didn't reach her ears, nor did Hunnii-sempai insist she have cake with him. Haruhi looked up and her eyes scanned the room. There was no one else there.
"Hey guys?" She called out. She expressly remembered Kaoru telling her to be there at three, or Kyoya would raise her debt by five million yen. "Anybody here?" She wandered to the window, where crisp rays of golden light illuminated the hauntingly empty room. Her eyes scanned the yard below for any signs of the circus gang. Still no one.
Haruhi did not restrain herself from rolling her eyes and moaning, "Great. When I find Kaoru, I'm going to murder him…"
The door opened. Haruhi turned. Instead of the procession of Host Club members, only an irritated Hikaru was there. He glanced around before letting his eyes rest on her.
"Where is everybody?" He asked her. He was still in his crisp, Ouran Acadamy uniform, but it was made less nice-looking by his scowl.
"Heck if I know. I was about to ask you the same thing." Already Haruhi could imagine the rest of the Host Club seated around a table, talking about how they would make her suffer for her tardiness. Another groan escaped her lips. "I guess we should go find them."
"Nah." Hikaru turned back to the door. "Kaoru just told me the boss wanted to see me. I wasn't doing anything else, so I figured I'd let him humor me. See you, Haruhi." He pushed open the doors.
"And I'd better find Tamaki and Kyoya before they decide to kill me." She followed him to the door. "Think Kaoru would know where they are?"
Hikaru shrugged. "Beats me. You can ask him if you want."
The two walked together in what Haruhi thought awkward silence, but Hikaru didn't seem to mind. He always stayed several paces ahead, without glancing back to see if she was still following. That was Hikaru for you. The only concern he had was his brother; no one else meant more than a petty laugh. At last they came to the library, where Hikaru had left his twin. However, when he returned to the place Kaoru had said he'd be waiting, he wasn't there.
"That's funny," Haruhi stated. "Any other guesses where he'd be?"
"Don't know, but I'd better go find him." He turned around to go. "See you tomorrow."
Haruhi found she was growing more irritated by the second, but she couldn't figure out why. Maybe because Hikaru was blatantly ditching her. Either way, it made her aggravation at the Host Club even more severe. Here she was, her life in danger, and Hikaru didn't care! He was going to leave her to fend for herself! So, rather than let him escape, she rushed to stop him before he could leave and force him to help her before Kyoya decided selling her internal organs on the black market would be more profitable. Or maybe he would give her to the Black Magic Club as a sacrifice. She shuddered at the thought.
Haruhi reached to grab Hikaru's arm, but he was so far away that her fingers just brushed his. He stopped walking and she could see the hint of a blush on his cheeks when he turned his head to look at her. And for some reason, when she looked him in the eye, she could also feel her cheeks growing warm and her heart racing.
What the heck was going on?
