A/N: Here is a new story I'm trying out. I couldn't get the idea out of my head, and I blame it on a combination of too much Harry Potter fanfiction and realizing how interesting names can be. This is a mystery, quite obviously, so I hope I'll do my idea justice. You'll have to let me know what you think after you read it.
On a side note, I made up a first name for Ayanokoji, who, if you'll remember, was the girl that was kicked out of the host club after she tried to sabotage Haruhi's first few days in the club by tossing her things in the fountain. That's just a reminder of who she is because she's probably going to be a pretty big player in this story...if I think it will be interesting enough. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Disclaimer: Nothing owned, nothing earned. Entertainment purposes only! Thanks!
Htelobbihs: Can You Say It?
By: Rae
-An "Ouran High School Host Club" Fanfic-
In her last year at Ouran Academy, Fujioka Haruhi was feeling more and more exhausted. She had decided to apply for scholarships at Tokyo University, where she had already been accepted as a student, but the scholarship applications were decidedly more difficult for the former host.
During lunches, Haruhi took her bento to the nearly deserted Third Music Room. The only people who ever went there anymore were herself and the twins. After the older group had graduated, the club disintegrated but not before their secret was discovered.
Sitting in her customary chair at the table, Haruhi pulled absently at the sleeve of her yellow dress. The uniform was something she'd had to get used to, but in light of the circumstances, she thought it was one of the easier things she'd endured. Her eyes were tired from nights of studying for her exams in the advanced classes she was taking. Staying on top of the food chain meant keeping her scores at the top of every class, and Haruhi was determined to do just that.
The door to the room was cracked as she always left it. After being abandoned by the hosts, the room had become dull and musty from disuse, and Haruhi wanted to allow the air to circulate, at least when she was there.
Pulling a book out of her bag, she didn't notice movement by the wall. Haruhi sighed as she opened the book to the last place she'd been reading and took out her pen to make notes on the advanced trigonometry. While she was good at all subjects, it seemed boring to her at times to do all this just to stay at the top of the class. Putting a pair of headphones over her head, she switched on her CD player, a gift from Tamaki.
Haruhi hummed as she looked through the textbook. It was interesting to see how the equations pulled together to make sense, and she enjoyed taking notes. It was one of her better skills. She focused fully on her work, not noticing that the door to the back room had been opened.
A comical design in the book, courtesy of a former student, she was sure, had her smiling whimsically. It reminded her of Tamaki, and she thought about her plans to visit him tonight. She shifted in her seat and sighed.
Before she could return to her studying, however, a searing pain to the back of her head left her on the floor of the Third Music Room. Struggling to figure out what had happened, she reached to the back of her head, bringing her hand away covered in a red substance, her blood, she realized dumbly. Suddenly a hand holding a cloth wrapped its fingers around her mouth and nose, and Haruhi panicked.
She jerked from the hold only to realize there was another weight on her body. Feeling lightheaded, she fought to stay awake, but it was to no avail. Slowly the world faded from her eyes until she dropped her head back to the carpeted floor with a dull thud.
--
Later that afternoon, Suou Tamaki paced the sitting room of the second Suou mansion. He didn't know what was bugging him, but when Haruhi arrived, he knew he would feel immediately better. He looked at the clock for the tenth time. 4 p.m. She was supposed to be there at 3:30, but since she was sometimes late, Tamaki knew he shouldn't worry.
He sat in the chair by the fireplace to wait for his girlfriend. They had started dating in his third year of high school. After he had jumped out of the car to rescue Haruhi, Tamaki could no longer deny that he felt something more than just fatherly love for her.
Haruhi had been completely shocked by him. Nothing prepared her to see Tamaki in such a new and decidedly romantic way. He had chosen her over his mother, and knowing how much he missed that woman, Haruhi had been touched beyond belief.
The two struggled with their already formed relationship, especially the strange fragility of Tamaki's fabricated familial ties to everyone in the host club. For a while it seemed that Tamaki would ignore his own heart and try to salvage the ties he'd created, and Haruhi, for her part, had been more than perplexed when the boy who had started to woo her suddenly went cold, falling back on their old titles of father and daughter.
It wasn't until the Hunny and Mori intervened that the problem became apparent. The twins were extremely jealous of Tamaki and didn't want him to take "their" Haruhi away. It had come down to threats and angry glares in the host room; that was when Haruhi discovered just how deeply the hosts felt about her.
When Kaoru was finally convinced that Haruhi truly did like Tamaki and not just as a friend, he'd reluctantly admitted defeat. It wasn't that he didn't love Haruhi; he did, but seeing her smile so beautifully at his friend reminded the host that he had already planned on giving her up...to his brother. Realizing he was the only one who could calm Hikaru, the twin who never seemed to understand his own heart, Kaoru had slowly helped Hikaru to understand what he himself had only recently realized: Tamaki and Haruhi truly liked one another.
With that, it was only a matter of time before the twins began harassing Tamaki again, this time with threats of bodily harm if he didn't end Haruhi's confusion soon. Kyouya, too, seemed more inclined to force Tamaki into wooing his "beautiful flower" than in increasing his stock in various companies. Both Hunny and Mori, who had graduated that spring, also encouraged the host club king to pursue the hostess.
Finally after seemingly endless arguments about the host club family, Tamaki had been convinced. He turned his full attention to achieving Haruhi's affections, something he didn't realize he already had, and by the beginning of the school year, the two were dating.
Hearing the clock strike the half hour, Tamaki stirred from his daydreaming. Frowning once he realized his girlfriend had not arrived, the former host stood and began pacing once again. The door opening had him turning, a smile on his lips, only for it to die when his butler entered the room, pulling it closed behind him.
"Tamaki-sama," the man intoned, bowing slightly before his master, "you have a visitor."
Violet eyes narrowed in concentration. It obviously wasn't any of his friends; they would have simply walked into the room, not needing an introduction. Wondering if this had anything to do with Haruhi and growing worried by that thought, Tamaki indicated his visitor could enter.
The butler turned and exited the room, leaving the door opened. "This way please," his soft voice echoed through the quiet house, and Tamaki heard two sets of footsteps on the polished marble floor.
Pushing the door open a bit more, the butler indicated with a hand that the visitor could enter. Tamaki stood next to the fireplace, looking straight at her as she entered the room.
"Ayanokoji-hime?" His shock at her sudden appearance caused him to add the honorific without thinking. Seeing her wait at the doorway, Tamaki's manners returned to him, and he said, "Please have a seat. The maid will bring us some tea in a moment." The butler's footsteps could be heard as he went to place the unspoken order.
Tamaki watched as Ayanokuji Hideyo made her way into the room. The girl was clutching something to her chest, but he couldn't see what it was. She looked awful, he mused, wondering if something had happened.
Her normally lustrous skin was pale, very pale indeed, and her eyes looked troubled. Her hands, holding the...paper, he assumed, were shaking, causing it to rustle slightly. She sat on the edge of the couch as he took a seat in his chair once more.
Remembering her tenure in the host club and how she ha been evicted, Tamaki felt pity wash over him. The rest of the girls, mostly his patrons, had virtually ignored her for the rest of the year. It was a horrible way to end high school, but the rest of the hosts had convinced Tamaki that she'd brought it on herself.
After she'd graduated, no one heard from her. It was a surprise, really, because everyone knew that Ouran Academy prepared students well for their formulaic lives. Graduates would go off to school, girls merely for the looks and prestige of attending upper class universities, boys to gain the experience and knowledge necessary to take their places, whether those be in succeeding their fathers as heads of businesses or working secondary to older brothers. There were arranged marriages and family lives to plan for the girls, who generally knew from an early age to whom they were betrothed, and boys were groomed to become the business leaders of their days while acting the part of devoted and doting husband and father.
No one deviated from this pattern, and that was what surprised so many people. It seemed that Ayanokoji simply took her diploma and disappeared off the face of the earth. And while it was common for students to take a year off to travel, even news of her travels, had she traveled, never made it back to the vaguely interested ex-friends and acquaintances of the girl.
That was why Tamaki couldn't understand what she was doing in his sitting room at 4:45 p.m. on a Tuesday afternoon. She wasn't even supposed to be in Japan, let alone Tokyo, and she certainly wouldn't come to visit him if she was in town. Looking at her, he left his eyes narrow a bit. Something was definitely wrong.
A timid maid walked in, carrying a large tray filled with tea, cups and small snacks. After setting it on the table and pouring the tea, she quickly exited the room. Tamaki picked up a teacup and offered it to the still pale girl. She took it, setting the paper face down in her lap but not before Tamaki saw a flash of red on the other side of the note.
"Ayanokoji-san," he said, easing into the more formal title, "I am honored to have you visit, especially after your long absence from our social circles, but I must admit my surprise to see you. Are you doing well?" He took a sip of his tea; it never hurt to be polite, he always said.
Ayanokoji looked up at the man she'd used to designate in the host club. She would never have sought him out, but this was too disturbing for her to ignore, even if she wasn't sure of the source. Her hand trembled as she lifted the cup to her lips; before she could take a sip, a little bit of the tea sloshed out of the cup, startling her.
She sat the cup down on the table and took a deep breath before saying, "Suou-san, there's something I think you should know. Otherwise I wouldn't be here today."
Tamaki felt the tension in his body increase, and he tried to calm himself by offering a lighter topic up for discussion. "Please, Ayanokoji-san, call me Tamaki. I do not wish for such formalities between old classmates."
She considered it for a moment and then replied, "All right, Tamaki-san." She wouldn't give in completely. "But you must also call me Hideyo." He nodded in response.
Ayanokuji looked at the paper in her lap and finally opened her mouth again. "I know I've been gone for a long time...since graduation," she said, "but there were reasons for my absence." Tamaki looked puzzled but said nothing. "I've been back home for only a few days now, so it's surprising they would know to deliver this to me there, especially since I've kept my travels quiet."
Tamaki was confused. It seemed like she'd just come to talk, but the note now back in her trembling hands was obviously important, and most likely the reason she'd come. How could he convince her to just tell him what was going on?
"I don't know what's happened, Tamaki-san," she said, interrupting his thoughts. "I just know it's something bad." Her voice cracked a little. She stood up and walked over to him, note held out, saying, "Here. This was delivered to my house a little over an hour ago. I don't know why it was delivered to me, but when I saw it I had to bring it over here as fast as possible. Perhaps you'll know what it means."
He took the paper from her hands only then realizing it was folded over with a flap taped down to keep it from opening. The tape had been sliced through with a knife, most likely to try to figure out what was going on, but that wasn't what caught his attention.
On the front of the envelop in bright red letters was his name. It was only his first name, and that surprised him, but he gasped outright when he realized the red ink was actually blood.
His eyes flew to the woman who was seated again, wringing her hands. He pinned her to the couch with a dark gaze as he demanded, "What is this? What's going on?"
"Read the letter," was all she could reply. "Maybe you'll make more sense of it than I did."
Pulling the flap open, he unfolded the piece of paper. It was just a blank sheet of paper, perhaps printer paper, with words printed in black block letters. He stared for a minute and then rubbed his eyes, wondering if he'd suddenly lost the ability to read. The note was short, but everything about it confused him. He read it again.
Tahw era ruoy smeard, uous? Tahw stnuah ruoy seramthgin? Tahw sah neeb ruoy tsetaerg erised?
Spahrep uoy tnod ezilaer eht noitautis uoy era won ni. Uoy evah neeb nevig a eciohc. Neves seulc, uous. Staht lla. Neves seulc ot dnif ruoy suoicerp ihurah.
Yeht lliw evirra ni ecneuqes. Uoy evah neves seulc dna ylno detimil emit ot erugif tuo erehw ehs si. Fi uoy liaf ot od os, uoy lliw reven ees reh niaga. Liaf ot od os, dna uoy lliw dnif ruoy secnatsmucric gnignahc.
Eht kcolc si gnikcit. Di eb luferac fo esoht dlo setamssalc fo sruoy, tu neht niaga, lluoy deen eht pleh.
"What is this?" He was more confused than he'd ever been in his life. Even after having taken various foreign languages, Tamaki couldn't begin to translate the note with his name on it. And seeing the blood had shocked and scared him more than he'd wanted to admit.
"I don't know," Ayanokoji now said, looking worried. "I was hoping it would mean something to you. You do realize that's blood on the front, don't you?" He nodded. "This is serious, Tamaki-san. We need to do something."
He stopped staring at the note to look at her in surprise. "You want to help me?"
She gained a determined gleam in her eyes when she said, "This note was delivered to me for a reason. I don't know what's going on, but I want to help figure it out."
Before he could consider her words, Tamaki felt his cell phone vibrating in his pockets. He pulled it out, and noting the caller, answered in the hopes that the person would have good news.
"Where is she, Milord?" The twin voices of Hitachiin Hikaru and Kaoru startled him as they immediately yelled their question. "She didn't come back to class after lunch! Did you 'borrow' again, Milord?"
Tamaki's stomach sank into the soles of his shoes when he heard this. The fear was back, and he knew instinctively that something had indeed happened to Haruhi.
"Hikaru, Kaoru," he said in a no-nonsense tone they'd always obeyed in the host club, "I need you to come to my home immediately." The king was ready to rally the troops, and he needed all the help he could get.
"Milord," Kaoru began, sounding unsure of himself, "what's going on?"
"Are you coming?" Tamaki cut the twin off rudely, his mind already on where Haruhi could be and if Ranka knew of the situation.
"Yes, but..."
Tamaki focused in on the conversation and quickly interrupted him. "Listen, something's wrong, and I think Haruhi's involved. I'm going to call Kyouya. You two get Hunny-senpai and Mori-senpai to come over as soon as possible." With that, he hung up the phone and immediately dialed his best friend.
"Hello, Tamaki," Kyouya greeted when he answered the phone. "What can I do for you now?" He was used to his demanding friend calling in need of something or other, and this response was habit.
"Kyouya, something's happened to Haruhi," Tamaki said seriously. He was struggling not to panic, but this new development was bothering him immensely. He glanced over to find Ayanokoji watching him with serious brown eyes as she once more wrung her hands together. "I need you to come over to the house immediately."
"Calm down, Tamaki," was the rational reply of his never dramatic friend. "I'm sure you're overreacting. Now, what's going on?"
Tamaki flapped his hands exasperatedly until he realized his friend could not see him and then said, "Kyouya, I've got a note with my name on it in some foreign language, and it's written in blood, and Haruhi missed lunch, and she isn't here yet, and I don't know what's going on..."
Kyouya interrupted his friend, knowing the tirade would go on if he didn't stop it. "Stop, Tamaki. Did you say you received a note written in blood?" His friend gave a vaguely affirmative answer before Kyouya continued, "I'll be there shortly."
"What's happened to Fujioka-san?" Ayanokoji timidly asked from her place on the couch after Tamaki hung up the phone.
He stopped mid-pace and looked, once more, at the girl who had hated his girlfriend. "I don't know," he finally said. "But something's wrong. She was supposed to be here at 3:30, and the twins said she never came back from lunch." With that, he plopped back down into his chair, clutching the note in his hands.
The two waited thirty minutes in silence, Ayanokoji staring distractedly into the ashes of the fireplace. She had gone paler when he mentioned Haruhi's absence, and now she was twisting the material of the red dress she wore in her hands. Tamaki was staring at the note unseeingly. He had no clue how to interpret the lines on the note and was growing more and more frantic by the minute.
"Tamaki, we just got here with Hunny-senpai and Mori-senpai," Hikaru called as he rushed into the room, followed closely by his twin and their friends. "What's going on? You sounded so upset, Milord."
"What is she doing here?" The incredulous voice of Kaoru caused the other three to take notice of Ayanokoji, now sitting as calmly as she could. His voice was like ice, and the group realized the girl who had insulted Haruhi was in the room.
"She's here because of this," Tamaki announced, moving to stand next to the couch. He held out the note, and Hunny reached out to take it from him.
The four moved over to the table and began to read.
"What does it mean, Tama-chan?" Hunny was the first to ask.
"We don't know," he replied tiredly. "But my name is written in blood on the front, and we know Haruhi is missing. I'm really worried."
"Haru-chan is missing?" Hunny's voice became nervous and high-pitched.
"You still didn't explain what she's doing here, Milord," Kaoru reminded the former host.
Ayanokoji now stood and, placing her hand on Tamaki's arm when he would have spoken, answered, "I'm here because that letter was delivered to my house this afternoon. I couldn't figure it out, but I knew there was something wrong for Tamaki's name to be written in blood. I brought it over as quickly as I could because I hoped he'd know what it meant."
Just then Kyouya came into the room. He looked disturbed, but no one knew why.
"Kyouya, mon ami!" Tamaki ran over to his friend and embraced him lightly. Kyouya returned the embrace only slightly, knowing his friend needed reassurance. Then he moved more fully into the room, noting Ayanokoji's presence with a slight raise of his eyebrow.
"I called Ranka-san," he said casually to the group. The hosts focused on the glasses-wearing young man expectantly, while Ayanokoji looked confused at the name. "He said he hadn't heard from Haruhi today, but he was at work. So he doesn't know what's going on either."
Tamaki looked frustrated at that and stomped over to the table, picking up the discarded letter. "Here," he said, nearly shoving the thing in his friends hands. "Can you read it? Do you know what language that is?"
Kyouya ignored his friend and examined the letter. He looked at the outside and noted the blood writing and cut tape. Turning it over, he began to read the printed letters. The group waited in silence as he began to study it harder, not really reading but looking at each word carefully, as if he could see a hidden meaning in the words.
He walked over to the table, pulling out his black notebook as he went. "What is Ayanokoji-san doing here?" He asked rather coldly as he sat down and opened the notebook. He extracted a pen and began to transcribe the note.
"She said this note was delivered to her home," Hikaru said loudly, looking a little more ferociously at the girl who was still trembling slightly on the couch. "When she couldn't read the note, she said she came over here because the blood scared her."
Kyouya made a small noise at the back of his throat and continued working on the letter. By now he had rewritten the entire thing and had discarded the original. He was jotting down letters and tapping his fingers on the table alternatively. The group settled down to watch in silence.
A maid entered with tea fifteen minutes later. Leaving the teapot and cups on the table, she quickly made her exit.
The hosts poured tea for themselves, and Tamaki offered Ayanokoji another cup of tea, which she graciously refused before Kyouya stood up and began pacing. The young man was holding his notebook in front of him and walking in front of the fireplace. The group continued to watch him until he suddenly stopped and looked up in surprise.
Marching back to the table, Kyouya began writing furiously. Tamaki was growing anxious at this point; his friend was obviously onto something, but he didn't want to intrude until Kyouya had something to tell them. When he finished writing, he reread what he'd just written, and then they watched as Kyouya looked up and surveyed the room, his gaze lingering on Ayanokoji a little longer than was comfortable for the young woman.
Standing he went to Tamaki and handed him the notebook. "Read that," was all he said.
Slowly Tamaki read the note, his face becoming quite pale as he did so. By the time he was finished, the former host club president looked like a ghost. He quickly handed the notebook to the twins. The group passed the notebook around the room, not saying anything, but becoming noticeably more agitated. Ayanokoji was the last to read the translated note.
What are your dreams, Suou? What haunts your nightmares? What has been your greatest desire?
Perhaps you don't realize the situation you are now in. You have been given a choice. Seven clues, Suou. That's all. Seven clues to find your precious Haruhi.
They will arrive in sequence. You have seven clues and only limited time to figure out where she is. If you fail to do so, you will never see her again. Fail to do so, and you will find your circumstances changing.
The clock is ticking. I'd be careful of those old classmates of yours, but then again, you'll need the help.
Looking up from the note, Ayanokoji saw six gazes leveled at her, and she gulped, paling even more, if that was possible.
...
A/N: The thing about this story is that I'm thriving on this idea of mystery for every part, including the names involved and the clues that will be given out. Ah, and since I know it's a curiosity, do think about the title of the story, won't you? I realize it sounds like jibberish, but so did Tamaki's note, and Kyouya figured that out. Speaking of, did any of you figure out the secret behind that note? Did you figure out what it said before Kyouya?
Please let me know if this story seems at all interesting to you. I know some of you will be turned off because it's a TamaHaru story, but I hope that doesn't keep you from reading because this will definitely not be all romance. In fact, I doubt I'll put that much romance in; there will probably be a lot of angst and worry and obviously mystery to keep our hosts confused. Let me know what you think of the first chapter and if I should keep going with the story, and thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it!
-Rae-