The plane ride was excruciatingly long; not even riding in first class made it any better with four hours left before our landing in Tokyo. One of the flight attendants stopped by my seat to ask me if I needed any snacks or beverages. "No, I'm fine", I replied simply. After such a long trip and so much more time left to go, most of the snacks looked unappetizing.
I took out my iPod and absentmindedly shuffled through the playlists until I was satisfied with the heavy rock songs that were filling my ears. In my head I ran through the plan; get off, find my luggage, locate Haruhi, go to lunch, and get the keys to my new home. I sighed, it's been such a long time since Haruhi and I last saw each other.
I felt guilty for not calling her as often as I should; we became friends during my family's short stay in Tokyo. It was a business trip, I was very young; not old enough to know that we were meeting up with a client, and I met Haruhi at a daycare center while my mom and dad were having lunch with the purchaser. I was scared, alone, and not able to speak the same language as the rest of the kids there. But for some reason, even though I was speaking a different language then her, Haruhi offered to play with me. Through the rest of the day, She and I had become inseparable; sharing our snacks and communicating through body language. By the time our parents had come for us, we were so reluctant to leave each other that frequent play dates were set in the park over the next three months until it was time for me and my parents to go back to America.
All this reminiscing was wearing me out and making me desperately crave some of that food the flight attendant had offered me. Deciding it wouldn't be that best idea to resort to junk food for contentment; I turned up my music and readily accepted the sleep that had been put off for so long.
I awoke to the sound of our location being announced in at least five different languages over the Airplane intercom, all of which I could decipher with slight ease. As my eyes focused, I peered out the window to find the familiar Tokyo airport come into view. Quickly unbuckling myself, I prepared to file out of the plane and begin my search for Haruhi. She had to be close, both Haruhi and I knew that I never was very good at locating things, even if flying to meet people recently became a regular thing in my sixteen-year-old life.
I ran my fingers through my long, dark hair and stood up to finally exit the plane; I found it mildly uncomfortable to be traveling on an aircraft that my father designed, especially because he wouldn't be designing any more of them for my family's company. Well, I guess it's my company now. I sighed and suppressed the unwelcome thought.
After getting off the plane and exiting the terminal, I quickly picked up my luggage from the conveyor belt and set out in search of Haruhi. On my way out of the airport, I passed a reflective surface that showed me my miserable, pale, blue-green eyes. Jeez, I need to cheer up. Anyone who got a good look at me would think that I'm some depressed mall-goth kid.
I wouldn't blame 'em though. Black converse, dark blue-jeans, and a maroon spaghetti-strap top with a light blue zip-up hoodie over it being the only bright thing about my current wardrobe didn't exactly scream emotionally stable. God I need to update my wardrobe. This is just sad, really.
My thoughts flew out the window when out of nowhere I was grabbed by the shoulders and hauled backwards without catching a glimpse of my captors.
"Is this her?" two voices chimed in unison. I was too shocked to make any comprehendible noise and tripped over my own feet. Falling on my tailbone, I grimaced. The short burst of pain brought me to my senses and I sprung up with a clenched fist expertly aimed and flying towards the face of one of my captors.
I got a glimpse of him then, slightly spiked red hair, golden eyes widened in surprise at my sudden defensive reaction, handsome face and a decent body to match. Note to self: Analytical skills plus the mind of a girl in the face of an attractive enemy is not good for me. Suddenly he ducked and I spun around to aim at the other so he could find out why you don't go kidnapping people, least of all the daughter of two infamous weapons and transportation designers. As I locked on my target I realized he was the exact same person I had first swung at, or was he?
"MORI!" he yelled. Not a moment later I was suspended in the air with my arms trapped to my sides and feet dangling. Huh? WTF!
"Hey!" I screeched, "What the…? Let. Me. down! NOW!" when I didn't get an answer or my command fulfilled, I was just about to start kicking and ask them who in the hell they thought they were dealing with when a calm and familiar voice sounded close by.
"You haven't changed a bit, have you?"
"Haruhi?"
"Who else? I apologize for my friends' mode of locating people." She giggled
"Oh, um, heh. S-so, they're you're friends?" Oops. I would have rubbed the back of my neck but I then remembered that I was still at least five feet above the ground with my arms super-glued to my sides. " C-can I come down now? I promise that I won't kill anyone" I said nervously, eyeing the twins whom had kidnapped me.
"Mori? I'm pretty sure we can trust her." The guy called Mori plopped me on my feet with a grunt and let my arms free. I rubbed them tenderly, getting a good look at him. The guy was huge, at least seven feet tall, then it registered.
I am. Such. An IDIOT! Jeez, Haruhi had spent so much time telling me about her club situation and people she had befriended since I last left Tokyo with my family, you think I would have them burned into my memory. "Ummmmm… Oopsie, sorry about that you guys, I didn't recognize you at first. Heh."
I immediately caught sight of a person who could only be Tamaki with a horror-struck expression plastered on his overly dramatic face, his mouth gaping open. Hunni was expertly perched on Mori's shoulders and both appeared to be studying me. The dorkamese twins, Hikaru and Kaoru, were giving me identical pathetic excuses for glares and I gave them my patented death stare in return, which earned me the desired effect of two pairs of widened eyes. Kyoya pushed up his glasses and continued scrawling in his little black book.
"So, where's my hug?" I heard Haruhi say expectantly. I grinned and spun around to wrap my arms around my much-missed friend.
"You're letting her hug you after what she did to Hikaru and Kaoru?" Tamaki asked bewildered, clearly snapping out of his dramatic state.
"Well yeah, anyone would freak if they thought they were being kidnapped by a couple of unidentifiable strangers." She eyed the twins accusingly and they looked down sheepishly, avoiding her gaze.
"Besides, I didn't even hit 'em, he ducked too soon." I pointed to Hikaru "and the other one cheated" I instantly regretted saying why they didn't get laid out and quickly added "I'm sorry" Tamaki frowned, not totally buying my apology.
"Well, I think that we should forgive Haruhi's friend." Mitsukuni piped up "She did say that she was sorry after all." I smiled up at him in a silent thanks and he winked. It should be illegal for anyone to be that cute.
"Fine" the twins groaned in unison.
"It would be illogical not to" Kyoya added.
"Aa" Takashi agreed.
"Well, now that we're all on good terms…" I began.
"On one condition…" one twin started. Oh, what NOW?
"tell us why you came." The other finished.
"Why should I have to tell you that?"
"Because we were curious and Haruhi wouldn't tell." Kaoru whined. Why, why of all questions did they have to ask this one? Images of that fateful night just three months ago flashed into my head. I squeezed my eyes shut and clung to my composition. It hurt so much that I felt physically sick and my stomach twisted into knots.
"She doesn't have to answer that if she doesn't want to." I let out a sigh and the corners of my mouth twitched in relief. Man, Haruhi was such a lifesaver. She was there for me as much as she could after she heard about the "house robbery gone bad" or so they called it.
There were only four people on the face of the earth that knew what really happened that night; me, the two assassins, and the guy that had hired them. But I could never say something that dark to Haruhi. No matter how compassionate and understanding she was, I could only ever tell what the news channels said: "house robbery gone bad, sole survivor goes to orphanage under new name." besides, it didn't matter now, I was safe here after the orphanage kicked me out because I was a danger to the other kids just for existing, I was practically painting a red target on the roof of that place. It certainly does help to have government friends that can alter your records so that you "aged" out of the system. I sighed, putting those thoughts into the back of my head where they belonged.
"Ummmmm, Haruhi? I know we were supposed to go to lunch but I only brought enough money for the two of us, sooo…"
"Oh that's okay, Tamaki offered to take us all somewhere so they could get to know you better."
"Oh, well, do you think they're alright with that? I don't think I made a very good impression with trying to mop the airport floors with the dorkamese twins' faces."
"They get over things fast, you're fine." I glanced over at Tamaki whom I noticed had already taken to calling me his daughter and was currently fawning over how shiny my hair was.
"Creep." I muttered.
Haruhi just chuckled