ridellemystere: You'll get your drama later I promise ;) I got lots lined up. Which member do you want to sweep Shiori off her feet?
ScarletandLunaRcool: Here's moar for you! Artemis Lily Luna: Shiori hasn't blown up. Yet. ;)
XXX
Chapter Four – DEFCON ONE
"Ranka-san says Haruhi is out with a friend," Kyoya told the Host Club members.
"Again?" Hikaru whined. "Wasn't she out yesterday as well?"
"She seems to be going out a lot lately," Kaoru added. "It isn't like her."
"She ignored my call again!" Tamaki wailed from his corner. "Mommy, Haruhi is going through a rebellious phase."
"Ne, ne, Kyo-chan, did Ranka-san say who Haruhi was going out with?" Honey asked.
Kyoya shook his head. "He only said that it was an old friend and they were not to be disturbed."
"Do you know who it is then?" Honey continued.
Kyoya adjusted his glasses. "No."
The Host Club fell off their seats.
Red lights started flashing and sirens filled the room.
DEFCON ONE. DEFCON ONE.
Nuclear war is imminent, all military forces at maximum readiness.
"The world is coming to an end!" the twins and Tamaki shrieked, running around the room like three headless chickens.
"I can easily arrange that for you three if you are so keen," Kyoya said, and smiled.
The three headless chickens buried their heads under the sand, only to realise they had no heads to bury. They settled for cowering behind Mori.
"Ranka-san didn't tell you who Haru-chan was with?"
Kyoya shook his head.
"Aren't you two email buddies?" Hikaru complained. "Couldn't you wiggle it out of him?"
"Unless Ranka-san didn't want us to know," Kaoru said. "But then why?"
They put their heads together.
Kaoru gasped, "What if, Haruhi is handing out with a boy?"
The six members froze.
Surprisingly it was Mori who broke the silence, "Arai."
"That Arai dude in Karuizawa?" Hikaru panicked.
Kyoya began typing rapidly in his laptop.
"Men," Tamaki said solemnly, rising from his crouched position and standing up to his full height. He snapped his fingers. "We must find out."
X
Shiori glanced towards her phone longingly and her fingers crawled towards it.
Haruhi's hand slammed over hers. "No."
"Why?" Shiori wailed.
"Look I turned my phone off too," Haruhi said. "It helps you concentrate."
Shiori pouted, "But nobody calls you."
Haruhi shrugged and shoved both their phones under the sofa seat.
Shiori sighed.
Barely a week ago, she would never have dreamt that Haruhi would be inside her house, let alone studying with her and even having a sleepover. But here Haruhi was, sitting across her at the living room table, doing math problems.
How did this happen? Repair works were going on outside Haruhi's house and it was too noisy for Haruhi to study or sleep and somehow Shiori ended up inviting Haruhi over. Shiori had a feeling Ranka-san might have something to do with it.
In a way, this arrangement was good perhaps.
Shuusei couldn't come over.
Shiori ran a hand through her hair, her fingers trailing across the cut hidden at the edge of her hairline, just above her ear.
No, that had been an accident. Shuusei hadn't meant to do it. But what he said…
Shiori sighed.
Math problems now looked preferable to those of her love life.
She turned to her book with gusto.
An hour later, Haruhi had finished her work even though Ouran High School math was much harder than that of Higari High. Shiori had taken a peek at Haruhi's book.
Shiori almost felt ashamed of herself. They had once been neck to neck. But no use thinking about the past. Shiori had decided to leave that studious girl behind after all.
"I'll go make lunch for both of us first," Haruhi offered.
Shiori nodded, chewing on the tip of her pencil.
Calculus was a bitch.
Now what was the third derivative of function x?
Shiori scribbled down her answer.
"You missed an x square," Haruhi said over Shiori's shoulder.
Shiori jumped.
"Oh, you're right, thanks," Shiori said and corrected the answer. "I thought you went to make lunch?"
"I can't when there is nothing in the fridge," Haruhi deadpanned. "And by the way I just threw out some eggs. That was expired for over four months."
"Whoops."
Haruhi narrowed her eyes. "When was the last time you cooked? And I'm not talking about instant ramen."
Shiori smiled angelically. "I don't know. Cooking for one is too much trouble."
"You could invite Shuusei over."
"Inviting a boy to your empty house is going to give him ideas," Shiori rolled her eyes. Oh Haruhi, so oblivious, so innocent. The world will eat you alive. "We'll go shopping for grocery after I'm done with this okay?"
Haruhi nodded. "I'll go check for more things to be thrown out."
"Thanks for your faith in me, Haruhi."
Shiori looked back at her work. Maybe she shouldn't have cut class so much even if the classes were dreadfully boring. She would have to make notes and catch up on her materials before she could continue with the rest of assessments. Haruhi would be useful there.
"I'm done!" Shiori threw down her pen. "Finally."
"You've got to be kidding me."
"Excuse me?" Shiori turned to Haruhi, amused.
"I have two hundred and seventy-two missed calls."
"Oh." Shiori laughed. "I take back what I said about nobody calling you. Lemme guess, the Host Club?"
Haruhi nodded. "One hundred and three from Tamaki-senpai, sixty-nine each from Hikaru and Kaoru, twenty-five from Honey-senpai, three from Mori-senpai and from Kyoya-senpai."
Shiori turned on her phone. "Well, I've got one message from Shuusei. Looks like you're the one with six boyfriends."
Haruhi rolled her eyes.
X
"Tono, we've got a signal. Haruhi's finally turned on her phone!" the twins reported.
"Where is it?"
"That is not the district she lives in," Kyoya said, frowning at the red dot that appeared on the map on the screen.
"It's moving!" Mori noted.
"Alright, men, move out!"
X
Haruhi whipped around. She could have sworn she heard Tamaki-senpai's voice.
"Haruhi, if we buy six pre-made waffle batters, we can get a tub of ice-cream free!" Shiori tugged Haruhi's hand excitedly. "We can split it between us."
Behind the shelf, the six members of the host club stared on, their eyes round in wonder. "There is something such as a pre-made waffle batter?"
"Just add egg and oil and you're set," Shiori read off the package. "Takes only ten minutes to prepare."
Behind the shelf…
"I know! Commoners are so busy earning a living that they have to forgo authenticity of taste and use the pre-made waffle batter to save time."
"That is so tragic."
"Very efficient though."
"But isn't three too much even for one person?"
"I don't have a waffle machine," Haruhi said.
"You can make pancakes with the same batter," Shiori replied. "They are basically the same thing."
"Oooh, commoner wisdom!"
"By the way, that girl looks familiar," Hikaru said.
"She's Haruhi's co-worker we saw at the bakery last week," Kaoru replied. "What was her name?"
Everyone turned to Kyoya.
"I don't remember," Kyoya said, sliding his glasses up his nose. "She was of no importance at the time."
Meanwhile, the girl of no importance was extolling the benefits of a waffle maker.
"Most of the time, I don't even make waffles using it. My toaster spoiled so I just use the waffle maker to toast my bread now, or even make French toast. I made brownies once. And you can make eggs and bake bacon too."
The Host Club's eyes grew even rounder. Tamaki was now taking notes.
"Hashbrowns, mini-pizza, macaroni and cheese. Even okonomiyaki."
"Well, she is definitely Haruhi's friend," Kyoya remarked.
"She turned the waffle maker into a multi-purpose oven," added the twins dryly.
"So what do you want for lunch?" Haruhi asked.
"Nabe!" Tamaki yelled.
"Curry," yelled the twins. "Spicy!"
"Spicy," yelled Honey. "But I like it sweet too."
"Ah," said Mori.
But surprisingly, Haruhi didn't hear them. She had disappeared down the next aisle.
Kyoya frowned.
This wasn't the supermarket Haruhi went to the previous time. This place was twenty-minutes away from Haruhi's house by car, which in commoner's time translated to at least forty to fifty minutes by bus or subway. Haruhi would not go so far as for mere shopping.
This place must be near the other girl's house and Haruhi was visiting her. Then they must be pretty close. Ranka-san said they were old friends but he had never mentioned this girl and she was not among Haruhi's frequent contacts. Maybe they reconnected. But they seemed too close for friends who had lost contact.
He didn't like not knowing.
X
"Haruhi," Shiori said casually as she pulled Haruhi into the next aisle. "Do you happen to know why your Host Club friends are following us around?"
Haruhi sweat-dropped. She knew it.
Shiori pointed to the mirror at the side of the shelves.
Haruhi could clearly see blonde hair, red hair and black hair peeking out above a stack of cans. Were they even trying to hide at all?
"Sorry, Shiori," Haruhi said. "They have no concept of privacy."
"Well, I am not going to let them into my house," Shiori said. "So we are going to get rid of them."
"Fine with me."
Shiori raised her eyebrows. "What, no concern for them at all?"
"They are annoying."
"True that," Shiori agreed. "But first, we must find out how they tracked us here. You don't even live in this area."
"Kyoya-senpai has his sources," Haruhi shuddered. "The Ootori family has a private police force."
"Hmm, even so, Tokyo has over thirteen million residents. Hmm…you got a new phone…"
"Yeah, Hikaru and Kaoru gave it to me."
"They could have tracked it."
Cold sweat dropped from her forehead. "Really?"
"Have you gotten any calls from them since you turned on your phone?"
Haruhi pulled it out. "Surprisingly, no."
"Well that confirms it," Shiori said. "They knew where you were once you had turned on your phone so they didn't need to call."
"Those rich bastards…"
"Do they do this to you on a daily basis?"
Haruhi nodded.
"Well how about a little payback?"
Shiori grinned evilly and Haruhi thought she looked scarily like the Hiitachin twins then.
XXX
A/N
DEFCON stands for DEFense CONdition and is a measure of the level of alertness of US defense forces. The DEFCON scale uses a minimum of 5 (for normal peacetime status) and a maximum of 1 (for situations of global severity, like nuclear war). The highest confirmed level is DEFCON 2 (during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 when the Soviet Union and the US nearly sent nuclear missiles to each other, yay, how fun.)
Obvs, Kyoya not knowing something warrants DEFCON 1. Duh.
Thanks to everyone who reviewed, favourited or followed this story :) Come have some sweets. Btw, did you know in the email notifications for reviews, they censor swear words, HAHAHA. Don't know why but I found this hilarious.
Can't wait to post the next chapter. Do review, I want to know your thoughts. Are my OHSHC characters acting in character? Is Shiori okay? Which part of this story so far has been your favourite?
Thanks for reading, I really appreciate you reading the crazy ideas I write down.
