"Hikaru! Kaoru! You cheats!" Tamaki shouted angrily. "How dare you claim the prize!"
The buzzing noise dominating the cafeteria halted all of a sudden. Everyone turned and directed puzzled looks at him.
He reddened, a bit embarrassed for disturbing everyone.
Then, when nothing else happened, the noise level went back up again.
Tamaki sighed out with relief then started scanning the crowd for two identical stylish hairs in the color orange. When his eyes finally located his targets standing in front a huge window, Tamaki marched resolutely towards the twins' backs. He hooked his arms around the twins' necks and brought their faces an inch apart from each other's.
"Iwas the first person who found out about Haruhi's weakness!" he hissed. "Not you!"
The twins struggled mightily under Tamaki's arms.
"Tono, what in the world are you talking about?" asked Kaoru.
"And could please step back from our personal space?" Hikaru added.
"We're feeling a little stifled under here," they chorused.
And with that, the twins ducked under Tamaki's arms and escaped. They formed a united duo in front of him, both of them fanning themselves with Hello Kitty fans.
"The people in charge the cafeteria should really turn up the centralized air conditioning system in this room," Hikaru complained.
"Yeah," Kaoru agreed. "It's sweltering in here."
Tamaki, getting impatient with the twins' inattentiveness and casual disregard for his very pressing problem, flailed wildly.
"You unscrupulous twins! You have my precious daughter's pictures with you! The ones that were taken secretly when she was still in junior high! Hani-senpai told me you got a hold of those pictures in exchange for revealing Haruhi's weak point! That's really unfair! Iwas the first person who found out about Haruhi's weakness! You guys should be disqualified!"
The twins merely fanned themselves calmly. They had earplugs stuck in their ears.
"Ah, that's right," Tamaki's demeanor turned serious suddenly. "As Host Club King, I hereby declare that you are disqualified from the Okinawa contest for violating several provisions stated in the Code of Conduct. Therefore, you should turn over those photos of my precious daughter to its rightful owner – which is me!"
And the righteous speech ended with Tamaki's hand over his heart, clearly putting emphasis the word 'me'.
The twins shrugged in response, not at all moved by Tamaki's dramatics.
"That's pretty unfair, Tono." Hikaru commented.
"Your current actions are clearly for your own personal gain." Kaoru nodded.
"Besides, isn't it your own fault for not claiming the prize sooner?" they both chastised him.
Looking contrite, Tamaki pouted childishly. "But I was keeping Haruhi's lightning and thunder phobia a secret…"
Once again the twins shrugged, not really caring. Then they walked away, probably to find a room where it was much, much cooler.
"W-wait!" Tamaki's plea echoed loudly off the cafeteria's walls. The twins turned and waited.
"H-how about if you give me one photo? Please? I should get one don't I? I-I mean, I was the one who told you about her weakness! Remember, Hikaru? In Karuizawa...?"
"But even if we wanted to give you your rightful share, Tono – " Kaoru began.
"– I'm afraid we can only give you copies," Hikaru addressed him somberly. "You see, this one is mine."
As Hikaru showed him a picture of Haruhi in her P.E. outfit, Tamaki drooled with obvious adoration. It looked like she was playing volleyball.
"And this one is mine."
He swiveled his head and Kaoru presented a picture of Haruhi taken from a ¾ rear angle. It looked as if she was addressing her classmates, reading something from the sheaf of white papers that she was holding.
This time, Tamaki exclaimed over his daughter's cuteness.
Then the twins tucked the photos back in their pockets and the rosy atmosphere enveloping the three of them vanished instantly.
"Originally, the prize of 'who can find Haruhi's weak point game' consisted of three photos," Kaoru informed him. "But we already exceeded the game's time limit, Tono, so senpai decided to subtract our winnings."
Hikaru nodded in agreement.
"That's why if you really want to have the third picture," he said, "the person you should be talking to is Kyouya-senpai. We have a sneaking suspicion that Kyouya-senpai kept the last photo of Haruhi all to himself."