Another weird story about life after graduation. College graduation. It might be slightly AUish, but who knows?
The captain leaned back on his chair. Actually, it wasn't a chair; it was a recliner/sofa/armchair (does that make sense?) for one person. It was quite comfortable.
His voice rang out. "So, who can we help this time?"
"There's a young couple who have been fighting recently, a divorced man who is lonely, and a newlywed couple on their honeymoon," came the reply.
The captain stood up in excitement. "Okay! We have our targets. The ship leaves in two days, so until then: prepare!"
"YES SIR!"
There were five other men other than the captain present in the room. At this moment in time, let's take the time to understand what the heck is going on.
It is after graduation from college. It is winter.
Tamaki is sitting at Kyouya's kotatsu, something he never tires of even after all these years. When Kyouya says that Tamaki could afford his own kotatsu, in fact, he could afford more than enough, Tamaki only replies that the one Kyouya owns is special.
Kyouya isn't sure how to respond to that one.
They drink tea when Tamaki blurts out: "I have an idea."
"You always do," replied Kyouya, sipping his tea in a way only rich men do.
"But first: do you miss the Host Club?"
"Why do you ask?"
"Because I want to know, of course."
"Somewhat."
Tamaki's face turned into that of a sad puppy. "That's it? Don't you miss seeing the twins and Mori-senpai and Hunny-senpai and…Haruhi?" He never really got around to confessing to Haruhi. In fact, nobody did.
"Maybe." He set his teacup down.
"Oh Kyouya, don't you see?"
"You want to form another Host Club?"
"No, just helping people in general. It's such a gratifying feeling! I always feel so…happy! It makes you feel like you've done something right in the world."
"...What's your point?"
But Tamaki could never give him a straight answer. "By the way, Kyouya, do you like boats?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Well, not really a boat. More like a cruise ship, you know?"
"Not really."
"Aw…you're such a spoil sport."
"…"
It wasn't until after many more cups of tea and many more hours of fruitless conversation until Kyouya understood the gist of what Tamaki was trying to say.
"A cruise…that helps people?" he asked, incredulous. "Will they know that they're being helped?"
"Do they need to? Don't you think that the best help always is done anonymously? We will do our best to make sure all passengers are happy! Whenever there is a cruise, we go through all the passengers and select a few. And we'll do everything we can to help them solve their love problems."
"Love? And who do you mean by 'we?' The Host Club?"
"Of course it's love, Kyouya! Love is what makes the world go around, isn't it? It'll be a reunion of sorts! We haven't seen each other for a long time anyway. We never really got a chance to keep in touch."
Kyouya rolled his eyes. "Dream when you're asleep."
And strangely, he felt that this was somewhat déjà vu. Then he smiled. One thing was for sure: his friendship with Tamaki would never cease to be interesting.
"So, Kaoru and I will be in charge of the fighting young couple. Their names are Hiroki Matsu and...Honda Chiyuki," said Hikaru, looking at the papers spread out on the desk. "Their relationship hasn't been going well and this cruise is sort of like a last attempt."
"Yes, but by the end of this week-long cruise, we'll make sure they're in love so much that they can't live without the other!" said Kaoru.
"Eh?" said Hunny, still small for his age after graduation. "But what if Hika-chan and Kao-chan make them fight even more?"
"Hunny-senpai, could it be that you doubt us? Could it be that--"
"Mitsukuni and I will be in charge of the divorced man," Mori cut in, saving everybody a whole lot of energy and time from the drama of the Hitachiin twins. "He is still distraught over his separation with his wife."
"Ice cream always helps in these situations!" said Hunny, relieved that he was out of trouble. He whispered his silent thanks to his cousin.
He and Mori left the room to discuss their plans. By the way, they are in the captain's private office.
"I guess we'll take our leave too," said Hikaru, and he and Kaoru left, probably off to wreak havoc in some innocent couple's life. No, that is not true.
They really did intend to repair that relationship, even if they did not seem like it.
"Tamaki." The last man handed the blonde a file of reports. "Here's the information you need."
"Kyouya. Thank you," he replied to the dark-haired man.
"It's no problem. Just don't mess up."
"When have I ever messed up? My plans are always meticulously thought of!"
"You're forgetting the whole Tanaka incident three weeks ago."
Tamaki pouted. " Well fine…so it did cost a little more than planned. But they still ended up together, didn't they? That's the most important part!"
Define 'little', Kyouya wanted to ask him. They had almost gone over budget, if not for Kyouya's previous planning. But he let the subject go, since he didn't want to deal with more histrionics. "I sent the letter to Haruhi yesterday, by the way."
"You did? It's about time you did. I wanted to have her with us from the beginning though! You wouldn't let me."
"That's only because we needed some time to get used to this. In the beginning, the twins spent more time playing pranks than helping people, even though they are perfectly capable of acting like adults. But now it's fine, right?" He smiled that Ohtori smile when you've done something wrong and you need to back off.
And that's what Tamaki did, though he sulked for the rest of the day anyway.
What Fujioka Haruhi yearned for the most was quiet and peace. It was the only thing she ever asked for, but it was the only thing she was never granted.
Until after high school.
The Host Club went their own ways, and Haruhi wouldn't have been surprised to know that there still existed such a club in the Ouran high school section.
Her secret was never revealed to the other student, though it had come close several times.
But anyways.
College proved to be a nice change of pace for Haruhi. She was surrounded by people who were like her: studious and not much interested in others' businesses.
She graduated at the top of her class, and she was currently staying in Tokyo for the summer before going to law school for the following year.
Though it was summer, Haruhi wasn't the type to goof off, and she was currently studying some material as preparation.
An unopened envelope lay on her desk. It was addressed to her from a cruise liner that she had never even heard of. She assumed that it was just some junk mail or something of the sort.
It was a hot day, but Haruhi didn't afford the money for an air conditioner. She had to resort to fanning herself and keeping the window open.
For a moment, she imagined how the Host Club would react to finding out she didn't have air conditioning. Then she shook herself, wondering what had made her think like that.
She hadn't seen, let alone talked, to them for years now. In the beginning, she had exchanged letters with Hikaru and Kaoru, who were traveling with their mother as preparation for becoming designers. Somewhere along the way, she had lost track of where they were, and their correspondence ended.
Haruhi eyed the letter on her desk. She picked it up and flipped it over. Had Haruhi come from a wealthy family, she would have known that the paper used was an extremely expensive brand. But she did not come from such a family, and she only tossed it to the side. Although she continued reading, her eyes kept stealing glances to the thrown aside letter.
That night, Haruhi decided to open it.
And she couldn't believe her eyes when she saw:
My Dearest Haruhi:
It's been such a long time since your father last saw you...
And by the time she had finished reading the letter, she was sure that her life wasn't going to get any more quiet and peace for a long time.