"Why am I here again with you guys?"
The ones leading the group just so happened to be Mori and Honey, and both were oblivious to Kyoya's question, much to his demise. Tamaki wasn't too far behind, and he was chatting excitedly with Haruhi about the prospect of a new adventure in Africa. She was slightly listening, but it was evident that her mind was somewhere else. Mori was looking around for the map and quickly spotted one of the information booths.
"Here we are." He spoke and pointed at the sign.
They all looked at the map and found that each section of the zoo was separated by different continents. Honey, who was sitting on the shoulders of Mori, looked over the map and pointed at the big words: AFRICA.
"We need to go that way!" He cheered and Mori took that as his cue to move.
The zoo today was packed with children of all different ages and sizes. Most of them were from a pre-school and very little. Haruhi found herself smiling at the little kids who were lined up, all holding hands with each other. They were headed in the same direction the Host Club was headed to: Africa.
"So," Hikaru started while he wrapped one arm around Haruhi.
"What do you think they'll have us do for volunteer work?" Kaoru joined his brother on the other side of Haruhi and leaned against her.
Ignoring Tamaki's protests, Haruhi slipped out of the deadly grasp of the twins and scoffed at them.
"I can tell you what you won't be doing." She gave them a scornful look. "You won't be pampered. I promise you that much."
"Yeah!" Tamaki was quick to agree with her and held out a finger towards the accusing forces. "We're working with animals or the environment, whichever one they place us with. We need to take this seriously so we know what we're going to expect."
"Well, catch you all later!"
The twins smirked and turned on their heels, completely ignoring the angry looks and rants that Tamaki was directing at them. Haruhi sighed and turned back to follow Mori and Honey. She was at least interested to see the animals that they could possibly see in Africa. She already knew that the lions, zebras, giraffes and hippos were a sudden given, but she was more interested in the other animals as well.
"Look Mori-chan!" Honey exclaimed from the top of the man's shoulders.
Mori followed the pointing finger of Honey and found that he was pointing towards the monkeys and primates pin. Then he noticed what Honey was pointing at. There were some handlers that had lemurs out and were allowing children to play with them. Honey was quick to clamber down Mori and head towards the new sight. Mori followed behind him closely after making sure Haruhi, Tamaki and Kyoya were behind them. They were still there, but they had been distracted by the giraffes that were sticking their heads way over the fence, just to get a better look at the new visitors. Kyoya was sitting on the bench with a pen and a black notebook, writing down God knows what. Mori turned his attention back to Honey, who already had, not one, but two lemurs crawling over his back and propping themselves on his shoulder. A small smile played on Mori's lips as he started forward, only to have someone to bump into him. Startled, he turned to see a girl, close to his age, stumbling away from him. She looked up at him quickly, and her hazel eyes widened. Mori took the chance to study her. Her skin was dark and tanned. Her black hair was pulled back into a pony tail, but Mori could spot the odd colors of feathers. Before, she had worn a scowl on her soft face, but it was replaced with guilt. Mori caught a quick glimpse of a tooth hanging from a cord that was decorated with beads of different styles and colors.
"Oh, please excuse me." She quickly apologized.
He couldn't place her accent, but he knew she was not from around Japan.
"It's fine."
She quickly turned away, but Mori had also caught the sadness in her eyes. Deciding it was not his place to search after a stranger, Mori turned back to Honey, who now had all of the lemurs on him. The handlers were slightly worried as they reached out to grab them, but they climbed out of reach, and dropped back onto the small boy. Sighing, Mori stepped forward to intervene.
Evelyn Richards was not happy at all. It didn't even help that she bumped into a complete stranger. Her face flushed at the memory; he was too good looking, and it really did embarrass her. Never had she been so reckless.
But that was not on her mind right now. Instead, she was facing a problem: a great big one, and she needed to find someone in charge. So she went to the only place she knew around there: the Security Office. When she walked in, silence fell across the room as a man looked up from his computer. He gave her a hopeful smile.
"Hello there. How can I help you?"
"Yes, I have an appointment Doctor Lee Richards today. I cannot possibly find his office anywhere, could you please help me?"
"Sure. Can I get your name? I can call him to come and get you."
"Evelyn Richards, and thanks for your help."
The phone was already in his hand, but he nodded at her. Evelyn turned her attention to the pictures hanging up in the office and a small smile played on her lips. There was a picture of Steve Irwin and the Security team together, posing in front of the large statue in front of the zoo. Next to the picture was another picture, this time of an orange kitten looking into the mirror and a Lion peering back. The words written on the bottom read "Be the change you want to be".
The door to the office quickly opened to reveal a man in a casual dress suit. Eve frowned and wrinkled her eyebrows together as she studied the familiar man.
His black hair was messy and his tie was very loose.
"Doctor."
His attention went immediately to her, and he released an exasperated sigh.
"Good Lord Eve. I've been looking for you everywhere. How can you get lost here?"
"I don't come here often and you weren't at the meeting point." She said as she crossed her arms.
"Never mind that, we've got bigger issues to discuss, come along."
He motioned for her to walk out first, but he immediately turned to the security office and flashed him a smile.
"Thanks for phoning me." He called out chipper as he turned to leave.
"No problem Doc. See ya next time."
A nervous chuckle was his response.
Eve was quick to turn on the man next to her as they were walking with haste towards the African section of the zoo.
"What is going on?"
"I will explain when we're not in public."
And like that, he reached behind and grabbed a hold of his sisters's hand and dragged her throughout the zoo so she wouldn't get lost like last time. She wanted to pull her hand away from him, but ignored the urge; whatever is on his mind must be important.
When they found solitude in his large office, he finally let go of her hand and plopped into his office chair. He let out a sigh and ran his hand through his short black hair.
"Well sis, dad's gone off and done it again."
"Did what exactly?" Her attention was fully captivated with her brother as she raised an eyebrow and crossed her arm.
"He sent me a letter, informing me that he is still in England, pleading the funds for the facility out in Africa. He managed to make a bargain, but the facility needs to open and ready for the public viewing, and everything needs to be organized."
Evelyn felt her anger rush.
"But that's nearly impossible! We don't have that kind of knowledge or man power to do so!"
"I understand. That's why you need to return as soon as possible and get the animals lined out quickly. You know them much better than anyone there."
"But I need the man power." She argued back. "Where am I going to get that? The bloody prision? Perhaps I can ask the militia instead."
"Eveā¦"
"I can't believe he would ask this of me! I'm only eighteen!" She threw her hands up in the air and sat down in the chair in front of her brother. She began to mindlessly play with the feather in her hair.
"Sister, listen to you." Evelyn snapped her hazel eyes up to meet the angry gaze of her brother. "You have something special that our family would kill for. You know animal behavior much better than human behavior. Don't think of yourself; think of how to help these animals. If you don't help the Conservation, there are a lot of species that would go extinct just because you thought you couldn't. Dad needs your help more than ever."
Eve let out a frustrated sigh. She hated it when Lee was correct.
"I will leave with the next flight out."
"That's tonight."
Eve nodded and stood.
"The sooner I get started, the better chance we have, right brother?"
He stood up from his chair and held his arms out to her. She grabbed him in a tight hug and fought of the urge to sigh.
A/N: Here it is again! The next chapter! Anyways, due to lack of any traffic, I decided I'm still pressing on forward. Maybe someone will like this enough to give me feedback. I don't know if I suck at writing OHSHC or not because no one has told me yet! :D Anywho, here it is, the next chapter! I hope you all enjoy!
Love,
Jazzy
