Dedication: IceQueenRex-chan is still love.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of this, I don't get money for this, I didn't mean to pee on any copyrights, the usual.

Author's Note: Argh, this place always messes with my A/Ns, for reasons I will never know, so let's just skip to the chapter and hope it doesn't mangle this A/N too.

Chapter Three:

Through the Rain

He had never pretended to understand Haruhi. Well... all right, perhaps he had pretended he understood her a little better than he actually did - but he had never pretended to himself. Indeed, in hindsight, the only people he had tried to fool had been the Hitachiin twins... and perhaps Haruhi herself. He'd always had Kyoya ready to offer up assistance (and a smirk) on the subject of understanding Haruhi, and while he rather often wanted to cause extreme pain to the twins, they seemed to understand Haruhi's commoner ways surprisingly well. In short, Suou Tamaki was foolishly, hopelessly "fond" of Fujioka Haruhi, but he learned most about her from the other Hosts. Kyoya knew much about Haruhi from correspondence with her father, and the twins spent nine hours with her a day. Mori was the most keenly observant, and Honey was able to fling himself upon her at a moment's notice (that moment being a very loud "Haru-chaaan!", naturally). The Host Club king had begun to wonder if perhaps he was unworthy to call himself 'Father' to Haruhi. He hardly knew her.

All of this had passed through Tamaki's mind as he had restlessly paced the music room. He had been chomping at the bit to leave and begin searching for the girl, but the patience of Kyoya and the insinuating smiles of the twins had held him back. Honey had just seemed a trifle confused. Only Mori had seemed to be taking the situation as seriously as himself, and Tamaki had clung to that notion wildly as proof that he wasn't overreacting. It was remarkable, really, for the number one Host to worry about overreacting - it was his way of life, after all - but he hadn't wanted to give anything away. Like his sudden doubts about his suitability for Haruhi, and not just as a guardian. Like his fervent wish to see her, just so he could hug her tightly (against her will, he conceded regretfully) and tell her he was glad she was all right, but if she ever scared him like that again she was going to have to find a new way to pay back her debt. Like his sudden realization that the Host Club had assimilated her so thoroughly, so completely, that it was inconceivable to think there would be a Host Club without her. Not least was the final inner confession that he was hopelessly, madly in love with a girl who didn't seem to understand the logistics of romance.

The idea had struck him while he had been worrying about all of the above. Concealing his newfound knowledge had taken every ounce of his concentration, the urge to blurt it all out and then curl up in the corner almost overtaking him. But though he was known for his frivolity, his dramatic tendencies and flamboyance, he knew how to be serious. And for all his fears and doubts, for all his shortcomings when trying to interact with her... Haruhi was one subject that Tamaki could be completely sober about. That was why he had been the first out the door to try and find her, but without so much as a farewell wave to the other Hosts. He'd had no idea where he was going, at first, and had found himself veering wildly about the building like a man possessed, his thoughts reduced to an incoherent, terrified jumble, falling over themselves with a sense of urgency.

When it had finally hit home that careening around the place was not, in fact, going to work, he'd stopped, sagging against the wall with frustrated grief. He'd thought, "If only I knew her as well as the others." He'd loosened his tie and wondered if they had found her yet. He'd swallowed his grief... and used the reserve of self-confidence to spark his imagination. That was his gift, more than his good looks, more than his wealth - his imagination was what had come through for him before. It was probably the only thing that kept his head above the water in the Host Club - the only thing that kept him at the number one position.

Haruhi is frighteningly clever, he'd thought, not without a twinge of fondness. If she knew a thunderstorm were coming, she would have found an empty room by now. But then the others would have found her already.

He'd briefly wished he was as resourceful as Kyoya, wished that he was as able to solve problems. But Kyoya hadn't solved this problem either, so he shoved it to the back of his mind, not noticing the girl approaching him timidly, distancing herself from her friends.

But that only leaves the grounds. Haruhi would never stay on the grounds if a storm was coming, she's far too smart, far too-

"Tamaki-kun?" Interrupted a shy voice, a blushing junior smiling up at him.

Unless... she got lost? No, stupid, how could she- the maze! THE MAZE!

Reeling to his senses, he looked at the girl in front of him, his violet eyes wide with startled revelation.

"Gomen! I- there's- I've got something important to do!"

With that, he'd darted past the embarrassed customer (who he grimly acknowledged would not designate him again - perhaps he should send her some flowers when things weren't so urgent?) and snaked his way in and out of the plush corridors, down marble staircases, and onto the grounds of Ouran High School - just as the rain began to fall.

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Oblivious to the fact that Mori and Honey were surprisingly hot on heels, and not far behind them, pair of pursuing brothers, Tamaki raced toward the entrance to the maze, his uniform exceeding the acceptable standards of 'damp' and trespassing into the boundaries of 'well and truly soaked'. It wasn't that cold, given the stretch of hazy, warm weather, but he wouldn't have noticed if it had been. The maze was his only hope, the only place he could imagine Haruhi to be in. His heart pounded in time to his racing footsteps, and as his breath began to catch in his throat, he saw the unmistakable flash of lightning, turning the hedges ahead of him ghostly white for the merest split second. He redoubled his speed even before the thunder had time to rumble across the sky.

"Tama-chan!"

Skidding to a halt, mystified, Tamaki turned his head wildly, this way and that, trying to work out where the voice was coming from. Spinning around, he saw a figure - indiscernible at first, but as it drew closer at considerable speed, he managed to shake the water from his eyes enough to recognize it. Mori, with Honey in his arms, running with a gritty determination that was practically radiating from him. And of course, it was Honey who had shouted. Haruhi had never called him Tama-chan. He rather wished she would.

"Follow me!" He shouted back, turning around before they had quite caught up with him. The lightning cracked again, and he kicked clods of mud as he ploughed unstoppably on, entering the maze with the two seniors close behind.

"Mori-senpai! Honey-senpai! Wait for us!"

The blond Host couldn't believe his ears, and for a brief moment thought perhaps he'd mistaken a thunderclap for the voice of the Hitachiin twins. He risked a glance behind, and sure enough, the brothers were there, running alongside Mori and looking dishevelled. Whipping his head around, he took the first left, intending to get to the heart of the maze without delay. His lungs felt like they were shrinking, his breath ragged and erratic. His heart was now pounding far, far faster than his footsteps and rain was washing away the sweat on his forehead. Tamaki was far from unfit, but the mad dash across the considerable grounds of the private school was definitely beginning to take its toll. He faltered for a moment, losing speed and pitching unsteadily as he turned another corner, the smell of wet leaves cloying the air, but another flash of lightning spurred him on.

"Haruhi!"

For a moment, he wasn't sure who had shouted her name, before his lungs emitted a stab of pain and he realized it was him. Yards behind him, the Host Club members began to take up the call.

"Haru-chan!"

"Haruhi! Haruhi!"

"Haruhi!"

He couldn't keep running at this speed. He was going to die of a heart attack in the middle of a stupid maze. He should talk to his father about this maze, because it was evil. He could never again look at it with happiness or enjoy it - because he was going to die in it. Damn this maze! Even as he thought it, he couldn't help but lose speed again. His legs stumbled over themselves, and he barely managed to keep them moving in a light jog. He needed to breathe so badly...

"Tama-chan!" Honey said, his light voice sounding much closer than Tamaki had expected. He turned to find the senior approaching swiftly, Mori tailing him and looking clearly relieved not to have to carry him any further. "Keep going!"

I shouldn't have been so proud of myself, Tamaki thought, nodding robotically and trying to hurry up. Looks like they all knew where to find her after all. It was strange, but the further into the maze they progressed, the more certain Tamaki became that Haruhi was in there somewhere. He closed his eyes for a moment, his feet plunging on automatically, only to feel a hand grasping his elbow, and immediately snapped them open again. It was Mori, guiding him on without a word, just a glance. A burst of gratitude filled him, and he picked up his pace again, trying to stay at Honey's speed - easy for Honey, having been carried most of the way.

"Wait-"

"For-"

"Us!"

Hikaru and Kaoru were pushing themselves the hardest, Tamaki thought. He hadn't seen them at all before entering the maze, and now they were just mere steps behind him. He saw them as rivals for Haruhi's affection - a topic that he had ranted about at great length to Kyoya - but just then, with thunder and lightning renting the sky and his heart ready to explode, he'd never been more glad to have them around.

He would look back on it and think of that moment; of having the Host Club members crowding around him, jostling with impatience, encouraging in their own unique ways - and he would think that he managed to get to the heart of the maze because of them. The dizzying feeling of unity was one that filled his head with buzzing and made him forget how exhausted he was, and even the absence of Kyoya did nothing to dampen his resolution. He knew Kyoya better than most, and he knew Kyoya cared. At the moment, that was enough to spur him around the last corner, blinking at the centre of the maze whose layout the Hosts knew so well and slowing down. If she wasn't here...

"Haruhi," breathed Tamaki, hoarsely. He stood in the midst of the others, each pair of eyes filled with disbelief.