As Tamaki clung to Kyouya, he felt like he was drowning. He didn't want her to go. He wanted her to stay. He wanted her to make a miraculous recovery, and walk out of that hospital room, gown and all, looking cute and perky, saying 'Guys, stop being such babies, I'm fine!' But as much as he dreamed and hoped and wished and pleaded in his mind for that to happen, he knew it would never be. And even thinking about it made him fall apart even more. His little girl. He couldn't protect her from this. It was his fault. All his fault.
Tamaki was drawn out of his thoughts by the sounds of the hospital around him. He pulled away from Kyouya to look at him.
"I..." He trailed off, but cleared his throat, "U-Uh, I..." Tamaki struggled to get his voice back, as he was a complete mess at this point. "L-Let's go back... to the... music room..." He said, his voice still shaky. Going back to school right now didn't seem too fitting, but he understood why Tamaki wanted to go there. Everyone was still at the music room, as the club sometimes stayed there after school. The only reason they weren't with Haruhi right now was because it was Tamaki's turn. Kyouya had went to the hospital when he realized Tamaki was staying longer than usual, to check on him. Kyouya nodded to Tamaki, putting his hand on his friend's back as they started down the hall.
As Kyouya and Tamaki walked down the hall together, farther and farther away from Haruhi's room, the two males were in a slight daze. Tamaki was still holding back tears, but Kyouya had gotten his own out while he wouldn't be seen by anyone else, and his expressionless mask was back in place. He wouldn't dare cry in front of anyone else.
On the ride home, Tamaki stared out the window, as if searching for something out there. The sky seemed to have a pink tint to it as evening drew near. Kyouya just leaned his head in his hand, thinking. It was as if neither one of them could truly accept the fact that she was gone, even though they'd seen it with their own eyes.
Something called ALS... I guess it's really rare, but... don't worry, it's not that bad, she'd told them.
Not that bad...? Such a disease was extremely rare, and it was so, so unlikely that someone like Haruhi would get it. She was young... female... strong minded... How did this happen? Slowly, it broke down Haruhi's ability to do simple things... walking, eating, breathing... She was eventually in a wheel chair, and didn't come to school often. The Host Club members would come to visit her, and give the girls at school updates on 'his' condition, usually telling them how well she was doing, even though that was a lie- they had to keep their customers happy.
The worst part was... she wasn't officially diagnosed until it had gotten beyond worse. There was no cure... there was no way she was ever going to live. She just kept getting weaker and weaker, losing her smile, losing her strength, becoming more relaxed, if you want to call it that. But to Tamaki and everyone else, she just didn't seem like herself anymore. She didn't seem to find their stupid comments on how poor people lived irritating anymore, she just laughed. She didn't scold Tamaki for fawning over her, she just smiled weakly and said, 'I'm okay.'
Eventually, she was hospitalized. It took less than a month for her condition to diminish to the point where she could barely move, barely speak in full sentences. She was pale, she was cold, she looked lifeless, the muscles in her face had shrunken, making her look slightly deformed. But Tamaki would always tell her how beautiful she looked today, and he'd sit and talk to her, even though she could barely keep up a conversation. He did all the talking for her. The others visited as much as possible, and tried to ignore the fact that Haruhi didn't say anything about their constant visits. Usually her reaction to such a thing would be telling them to 'stop it, I'm fine, jeez.' But she wasn't fine. And she knew it in her heart.
Haruhi's father would stay with her daily. He stopped going to work just to be with her. He said hello to the boys when they visited, he even sat in the room while they were there, sometimes. His second home became the hospital. He let his natural hair color come back, and eventually got annoyed with the long hair and chopped it all off. He looked like a regular man again. Haruhi told him he didn't have to do that, but he just shushed her and told her it wasn't her fault, he was getting tired of the look anyway.
It was Tamaki's visiting hour when Haruhi had finally lost most all of any strength she'd held on to. He'd been talking to her about how the girls were all so worried, and showing her the cards they'd made for her. It only took Tamaki a minute or so to realize Haruhi's eyes were closed, and she was breathing very slowly. That's when he'd kneeled beside her bed, and he knew, in that moment, that she wasn't going to last.
