The day after Antoinette dropped her bomb, there was a huge American manufactured car sitting in front of Ouran when Haruhi walked by the front gates. She paid it no mind as she crossed between the huge gates on her way into the courtyard. She got halfway to the doors to the school when a hand covered her mouth and a set of arms hauled her off towards the huge car. The passenger door was opened from the inside and the struggling girl thrust in before she realized that the arms were not ones she was familiar with. She stiffened slightly in alarm as the driver peeled out onto the road.
"Fujioka-san, I apologize for having you brought to me in such a manner, but I was afraid that the Host Club would not see this as a needed discussion." Antoinette informed the shocked cross-dresser, "My men are currently reporting to the Host Club as substitutes for you, so your Kyoya can not give you any shit about neglecting your hosting duties. Now I trust you have been thinking about what I told you yesterday afternoon? Good. I want you to come home with me for a few days. Do not 'but' me miss, I am taking you with me so that you have an idea of what you and your men face by making the choice you seem close to making. I have already discussed the matter with your father and he has agreed with me that you need to see first hand what happens to those who do not meekly go with the flow. What the general population does not realize is that most mammals are not monogamous, in fact hyenas and elephants are matriarchal. They have many males to one female. I apologize that was a little tidbit Micah told me once to cheer me up. I was a little insulted about being called a hyena though."
Antoinette let silence fill the car for all of two minutes before she turned to glance at Haruhi, "Fujioka-san? Are you alright?"
"I won't get to see any of them? For how long?" Haruhi asked, rubbing her temples to fend off the oncoming headache.
"Seven days. My men will be staying behind as well, since I suspect that they would be rather upset with having their, 'toy' taken away from them." Antoniette paused, "Why do you let them call you that anyway?"
"It honestly doesn't bother me. I am a kind of toy for them really." Haruhi replied. "If you don't mind me asking DeLoche-san, how old are you?"
"Twenty-four in the spring. I am an Aries, an AB negative." Antoinette supplied, "I took double course loads in high school so that I could finish medical school as soon as I could. Of course Damien and Tristan gave me hell for it, always saying I was going to work myself into a "freaking grave and die an old hag". But eventually they realized I was not going to live off of their money and that I needed my own life."
Haruhi found herself nodding along with Antoinette's words, "The Rich Bas--- eh, I mean the Host Club don't understand why I won't just let them pay for things. I mean Kyoya already cleared my debt, so that's not even an issue anymore. But I find things left for me in my apartment, in the music room, hell I even received a package in class! They don't understand that I don't need anything other than them to make me happy."
Antoinette sighed and nodded her head; "You have to understand where they're coming from Fujioka-san. They grew up around women who wanted them for their money. Think of it this way, you have seen the birds who collect shinny things for their nests yes? Well the bird with the most extravagant nest wins the mate. It is the same basic principle, those boys think that they are in a hostile take-over fight for your heart. Therefore?"
"The one with the most blatant display of wealth wins? That is the dumbest thing I've ever heard." Haruhi answered the riddle with a straight face, but her eyes were troubled. She drew out her cell phone from the pocket of her blazer to call them and set them straight, but it was snatched from her hands before she could even complete the call. She turned with wide eyes to Antoinette, mouth hanging slightly open.
"No Mlle. There will be no calling the, what did you call them…. Oh yes, The Rich Bastards. I will let you call them when we get to the house, but not before hand. There is a certain benefit to not being in reach at all times." Antoinette pocketed the phone, and eased the big car into the parking lot of a private airport. She popped open her door and jumped out of the car. Haruhi watched in the rear view as she went around to the back of the monstrosity to pull two large duffel bags out of the trunk and onto her shoulder. She came around to Haruhi's side of the car and opened the door.
"Come along Fujioka-san, Tristan's jet is ready to go. I have both passports in my back pocket, could you get them please?" Antoinette waited for the other girl to grab the passports and then started walking briskly towards the open terminal doors. "Hurry now Fujioka-san! I want to get home!"
"Where. The. Hell. Is. She?" growled Hikaru, pinning the older men with a glare. Kaoru stood beside his twin looking just as murderous.
"I'm sure you boys will agree that some time away from being hauled around like a sack of feed is good for the girl? I know if we manhandled Toni like that she would have decked us by now," Tristan sighed and rolled his shoulders back, "Besides don't you boys need to get the Host Club open or something? I'm sure we can all discuss this after that."
The twins looked ready to argue, but a glance at Kyoya on his cell phone made them pause. They smirked at each other, convinced that Haruhi would appear before club was over.
Meanwhile, Haruhi was being checked for any illegally exported items and having her passport looked over at least eight times. Antoinette stood on the other side of the gate, talking on Haruhi's cell phone. By the color of her face she was not pleased with the person on the other end of the line.
"Ohtori-san, I do not care how many companies you own. I do not care how many private police you have. I am taking Fujioka-san with me and there is nothing you can do to change my mind." She paused as Kyouya said something on the other line, "No I will not tell you where we are going. No I will not let you talk to Fujioka-san, if you keep badgering me and taking up my time I will not let you talk to her the entire time she is away. Now good day Ohtori-san!" Antoinette snapped the phone shut with a glare.
Stomping over to Haruhi she grabbed the other girl by the wrist and hauled her bodily through Security. The guards mumbled something about wanting to check if she really was a girl before Antoinette snatched the stamp off the desk, stamped both passports, said a curt "good day gentlemen", and pulled along two overstuffed duffel bags and one harried Asian girl.
Hikaru looked worried, Kyoya had snapped his phone shut around two hours ago, the scary 'shadow king' face firmly in place. He had then proceeded to retreat to his corner with his laptop and had made several rapid phone calls. Kaoru looked over at his brother worriedly, he had "accidentally burnt his finger" and his brother had missed his cue to go all 'moe' on him. The ladies sitting with them looked puzzled, until Kaoru stood up and pitched a fit.
"Hikaru! You care more about Haru-kun than you do about me! I burnt my finger and you're mooning over his absence..." Suddenly his voice softened and his eyes welled with tears, "you're going to leave me for him aren't you? You are I just know it…" Kaoru turned his face away from his twin, who had by now caught on to the fact that they were supposed to be behaving normally and picked up on his cue fast enough to have several girls faint from all the 'moe'.
Mori and Hani were holding court over in their corner, but even Hani was acting a bit off. It wasn't much, just enough to clue in the girls sitting around them that something was wrong with the loli-shota and his bodyguard. For one thing Hani actually turned down the offer of a second helping of cake, instead turning to glance at Kyoya every so often. Mori sat tensely, his whole body tightened to the point that knots were starting to develop. He had a moment's pause, trying valiantly to loosen his muscles, remembering that his little Haruhi did not seem to be coming home anytime soon to loosen them back up for him.
Antoinette's men were a big hit with the host clubs customers. The blonde haired, blue-eyed twins were proving to be a lot more independent than their Ouran counterparts, needing no 'Twincest' in order to make the girls swoon. They just did things in perfect sync, be it handing girls tea or pulling back a loose strand of hair from a young ladies face. Micah and Kipp were entertaining a group of ladies in another part of the room by trading insults back and forth between them, almost to the point where one of the ladies would become so upset that she tried to calm them down. Which would then have the rest of the girls fawning over the two 'fighters', reassuring them that they were both very fierce and very masculine. Tristan and Damien flitted between the two sets of men, edging Micah and Kipp on, and helping Gideon and Pierce flirt with the rest. They were all thanking every divine being they could think of that Antoinette was on her way back home and not observing the fawning that was currently happening over 'Her' men.
Kyoya, meanwhile, was fending off Tamaki and glaring at his laptop. The flight dispatcher was very loyal to Tristan's family and refused to give up the flight plan, number of the plane, or anything other than the fact that Mlles. DeLoche and Fujioka were already on their way to the Mistress's home. He wouldn't say where that was either, although Kyoya pressed him. He had just barely contained the urge to hurl his cell phone into the nearest wall, only remembering that if he broke it, it would take him at least three hours to get everything switched to a new phone. Three hours he could be using to find Haruhi. Tamaki was nagging him constantly about how his Darling Daughter had been kidnapped and wasn't Mother going to do ANYTHING? Who knew what dastardly plans that American har—Tamaki was cut off abruptly and violently by Micah, who had been wandering by on his way to take tea to the tables. The host king found himself held in the air by the shorter man; instantly regretting the words he had unthinkingly spewed out. Micah's dark grey eyes glared up at him as the man slammed him back into the wall.
"You will take that back immediately Suoh. Or I will break every bone in that pretty face of yours," Micah almost purred, his eyes narrowing to slits. The force of putting Tamaki up against the wall had made the tie holding his shoulder length black hair back loosen it's hold, causing a few locks to escape and fall forward into his face. The man ignored them, waiting for his captive to issue his apology.
"I apologize for my slur of DeLoche-san's honor. It will not happen again." Tamaki whimpered, cowed by the short man's violent temper. He was looking to Mori-sempai and Hani-sempai to notice his plight and help him, only to find them glaring at him as well. He looked at the floor in shame as Micah released his collar and continued on his way to the ladies he was entertaining, saying loudly, "See, Kipp! I'm stronger than you after all!"
The rest of the ladies twittered nervously, thinking that they were in on a big joke that Micah had played on Tamaki-sempai. Kyoya glared over the rim of his glasses at Father and hissed out, "Tamaki, now would be a good time to go clean the tea cups that we left in the sink yesterday."
Tamaki knew when to shut-up and listen as he scurried into the back room, completely red with embarrassment.
Haruhi sat in the middle seat of a personal jet as they crossed over the Atlantic Ocean on the way to America. They had been on the flight for several hours now and Haruhi was missing her men, despite the girl's vehement denials to the contrary. On occasion she would catch Antoinette out of the corner of her eye as she fingered the charms on her necklace. Finally boredom drove her to move towards the other girl, sitting next to her in one of the luxury seats with heated backs and bottoms.
"DeLoche-san, if you don't mind me asking, what are the charms for?" Haruhi asked, a puzzled hand reaching out to touch a small dragon charm. Antoinette tolerated her exploration of each charm, and waited for Haruhi to settle in her seat before leaning her head back on the seat rest.
"Well I could not wear an engagement ring, could I? We tried several different ideas about how we would announce our 'involvement' and each of them did not work. Finally Kipp came up with the idea that they take the family crests and put them on a charm bracelet. I liked the idea, but I can't wear bracelets at work, so Damien suggested a charm necklace." She fingered an owl tenderly; "The owl is Damien's personal, well mascot I guess it the word. He thinks the bird brings him wisdom, that if he can observe as silently as the owl that he can conquer the universe." Antoinette moved her finger over to the silhouette of a wolf's head thrown back in a howl, "As you can guess Kipp's sign is the wolf. It has been in his family crest for generations upon generations, though they took it out when they learned he had given it to me." A slight frown creased her face before her finger glided on to the next charm on the line, a silver dragon with wings furled and head curved around to face forward, "The dragon is from Tristan. He says that to slay a dragon is a pity, and he thinks this little fellow will protect me if I protect it. He's such a soft-heart it is amazing he has survived this long." She grinned at Haruhi's expression, "Very like your Hani-sempai, sleeping with the same stuffed dragon since he was five years old. It is in very good condition for it being so old; he takes excellent care of it. This," She tapped a rearing horse, "is from Gideon. His family owned a horse farm before he bought them out and gave it to me. I rode in the Olympics before I met them, took a silver individual and a bronze in the team division. His brother Pierce says that horses are too dangerous for me to be around, that if might have been what caused my sterility in the first place. I took a fall from a chestnut mare I was riding for my trainer and landed oddly. Pierce said that dogs were much better than horses, and commissioned this," she fingered the silhouette of a Newfoundland carved in onyx, "Then gave me a Newfie puppy the day after the presentations. He regretted the idea almost immediately, since Behemoth would not let anybody but himself be in the bed with me until he was four months old." Antoinette laughed for a moment over the memories, before touching the final charm. Haruhi was confused as to what exactly it was it looked like a sideways eight. "It's called a Mobius strip. It means 'infinity' or 'forever'. Micah said that he would treasure me forever, and that he could not think of any fancy animal he could get crafted for me. It has always been my favorite."
Antoinette stopped talking to look over at Haruhi. The girl had been very subdued since they boarded the plane, and Toni was hard-put to classify it all as homesickness. "What is the matter Fujioka-san?"
"I miss home, DeLoche-san. I also wonder if I'll ever be able to calmly explain every aspect of my personal life to someone, just because they asked it of me." Haruhi looked into Antoinette's face and was shocked at the obvious amusement she found buried in the green of her companion's eyes.
"Do you think that I disclose anything to anybody? I have made a very, very, rare exception for you Fujioka-san. I dislike dragging my lovers away from their business ventures, and I dislike flying halfway 'round the world. I do however want to offer all the help I can to another set of people like us. A group before us counseled me in the same manner, though they were not so big. Four men and one women, from Alaska. I will answer your questions because they answered mine. Not because I think I am special and I need the attention, but because I got help and am now the happiest woman on the planet. To command the love of such powerful men, Fujioka Haruhi, is not a thing to be taken lightly. I suggest you use this time away to think and search deep so when you return to them you have not doubts at all about the way you want your life to go."
Haruhi bowed her head and moved back to her original seat. 'I think that this may turn out to have more merit than I originally thought it would.'