A/N: So this isn't the most eventful chapter, sorry about that. It is, however, extremely important, particularly at the end. Things are going to get good from here.
And for the record, yes, you will learn what happened to everyone in the Host Club, along with a few of the side characters. One will actually have a whole chapter dedicated to them, but that's a long way off, and I won't tell you specifically what chapter even though I know it.
Hope you enjoy!
Haruhi isn't aware that she's fallen asleep until she next wakes up. She's been waking up in a lot of strange places lately. Surely all this instability in location is going to take a toll on her soon. She doesn't think she's ever woken up to find herself wrapped tight in the arms of a pair of twins, with their heads bent and lightly touching hers. She's facing Kaoru, his peaceful face filling her vision. She doesn't mind it that much, nor does she mind Hikaru pressed up against her back. Quite frankly, she could lay here all day until the sun went down and not complain.
Because they were here.
She's almost disappointed when Hikaru stirs, and his hand swings out and knocks Kaoru across the face by accident. They both groan and shift positions, moving slightly away from her. Haruhi misses their warmth almost immediately. She thinks Hikaru must've opened his eyes first. His arms go around her again and pull her close. Kaoru's eyes flutter open now and he smiles at her, and wraps them both in a hug that is gentle and loving. Haruhi rests her head on his shoulder, so that now, neither of them can see the look of pure joy on her face. Surely they are still those cocky teenagers who will hold it over her head.
"You know, I don't remember falling asleep like this last night," she says.
"Do you even remember falling asleep at all?" Hikaru asks in her ear. "Because I don't."
"Yeah, I guess that's true…"
They remain as such for a while longer, until someone's stomach lets out a whine. Haruhi isn't going to rule out the possibility that it's hers, but she won't admit to it either. Kaoru is the one to finally suggest that they get moving, and then makes a statement that makes Haruhi only slightly less deliriously happy then reuniting with them did.
"The nearest town is a couple of miles away. We can make it by tomorrow morning if we go now."
So they start walking in the direction of the less dense parts of the forest. Now with the sun up and the sky cloudless, Haruhi can see them better than she ever could before. She is not surprised to find herself walking in between them, and she doesn't mind it much. She draws the line at holding hands though. She hopes they know that.
Despite what happened last night, conversation is hard to come by. Haruhi wants to say something, desperately so even. It's been so long and they've changed so much. Their faces are aged ten years and they look like they haven't slept recently. They wear tight clothing, likely for ease of travel up in the trees, that show off leanly muscular bodies. Haruhi tries not to stare at Hikaru too much, though she's overflowing with questions and hard pressed for a way to phrase them without offending him.
There are two scars on his face, but they are the same on each side and must have been received all at once. They start at the corners of his mouth and curve upwards to the tops of his cheekbones. They look bumpy in places and white in others. The skin around them is red, possibly from infection. From far away, they make it look like he's smiling a distorted kind of smile. From up close, Hikaru's mouth is in a line, and somehow that makes the scars look worse. Haruhi forces herself to star straight ahead and not look at either one of them. She badly wants to ask, to know what's happened to them to bring them to this point, but her mouth is sewn shut. It isn't her place to ask.
They continue on in silence, it gets to a point where Haruhi feels like she'll burst if nothing is said. She hasn't seen them in ten years, and now it's like they used up any emotional connection with her last night and have nothing left to say to her. Are they really so different now?
A little voice in her head answers in scathing tones, and reminds her that she's really one to talk. Haruhi sighs inwardly. She looks up at Kaoru, and is surprised to find his eyes already on her.
"So what have you been up to, Haruhi?" He asks. Haruhi can sense Hikaru's eyes on the back of her head. She feels a slight chill.
Haruhi stops to think of a response, because even though she knows what she's been doing all this time, it's a weird thing for Kaoru to ask. Isn't it obvious? She's been doing exactly what they've been doing: trying to survive. Albeit through different means. Haruhi is reminded that she only found the two of them again because they thought she was a man and meant to rob her. Her stomach sinks as she wonders how many other travelers they've crossed paths with. She notes the knife holsters around their waists. They each look about a foot long, and Haruhi can only imagine what the blade itself looks like. How sharp the blade is and how pointed the tip is. They must make perfect tools for protection, and whatever else one may need them for.
"I've been fine," she answers, and the words sound just as awkward out loud as they did in her head. "Living at my old apartment complex with my Dad and a few others. It's kind of cramped, but we've done well so far."
"At least you have a steady roof over your head," Hikaru says with a snort. "I think I've successfully counted every single star in the sky, we've slept outside so many times."
Haruhi giggles in spite of herself. She can't help it, this classic cheekiness is a breath of fresh air, a godsend, a reminder that this is real and she's not dreaming. Hikaru's mouth twitches, almost into a smirk. It must be good for him to know that he can still joke around and she can still laugh.
Kaoru, meanwhile, is rolling his eyes. "Don't listen to him, he's exaggerating. We're always able to find old buildings to stay in when it's needed. Usually in the wintertime or when it rains. Camping out is otherwise a last resort."
Haruhi says nothing to that, just nods her head and keeps looking forward. She's honestly afraid to continue with the conversation now. No matter how much she tries to steer away from what happened last night, and the questions she has, it will keep eating away at her until she has to ask. She listens to the leaves crackling under her feet, trying to ignore the sound of their breathing. There are masses all around the area. It makes her happy that she only has to deal with the excess of one tree and not one thousand. It would take an army to clean all this up. When she looks down, Haruhi can't even see the dirt ground. Her boots press down on hidden twigs and rocks, in time with Hikaru and Kaoru's steps. Their boots are, of course, much nicer and cleaner than her. They must take good care of them. Where did they get them anyway? Did they buy them or…
Haruhi bites back a sigh. There are times when she hates being right and this is one of them.
She takes a deep breath, careful not to be too loud so not to draw attention to herself.
"I know what you're thinking."
She jumps, and her heart may have stopped beating for a second there. Hikaru is smiling at her. It accentuates the scars, makes them harder to ignore, and makes his smile look manic. His eyes carry a warmth, though, that puts her at ease. She'd still rather they never have this conversation and that he not continue with what he's about to say.
"It's okay Haruhi, you can ask about the scars."
A moment passes, and then another. Haruhi lets out a breath. This isn't an ideal topic either, but at least it's slightly better than the alternative.
"I wasn't really… you don't have to…" she trails off, not knowing what to say. It comes out as incomprehensible words that she can't put together into a coherent phrase.
Hikaru must interpret that as shyness, because he grins and pats her back in a way meant to reassure. It does little more than brush away a few stubborn leaves the wind has been blowing around.
"It's actually a pretty simple story," Hikaru says. "Not even a big deal."
The way Kaoru tenses on her other side, and the tightening of his features that is evident when Haruhi looks up at him, makes her think it's very big deal.
"It happened about four years ago. We started hanging out with this group of bandits who mostly hit travelers alone at night. They seemed like nice guys, all thing considered. Kaoru and I didn't realize just how bad they were until they started planning this raid on a little village that was already struggling to find food and keep the peace. The leader wanted us to make the initial strike, and we refused. He didn't like that, tried to force us into it by threatening to not share food with us and make us sleep outside in the rain. Kaoru told him off right there. That you should've seen, Haruhi, because it was pretty awesome."
Hikaru laughs. Kaoru doesn't join in. Haruhi alternatives between looking at each one. Hikaru is enjoying telling his story, Kaoru looks like he'd give anything for Hikaru to just stop talking.
"So the leader orders his guys to grab us, and once we're tied down, he whips out this giant knife and goes at Kaoru. He was saying something like 'going to teach you not to run your mouth off' or something. Anyway, I wasn't about to let my little brother get hurt, so I started yelling at him. I called him some even worse names, whatever I could think of. I asked him 'where do you think Kaoru gets it from? He only repeated what I've been saying for months.' It did the job. Kaoru got away with only some bumps and bruises, I got the knife in my mouth one way, than the other."
He hooks his fingers around the side of his lip to further illustrate. It's unnecessary, Haruhi can already imagine how it looked, and it makes her stomach turn. She may not have been there, but she has the sudden image of Hikaru on the ground. He's held by three men, all big and burly and ugly as sin. Two more men are holding Kaoru back, as he struggles to reach his brother and screams for help that will never come. Then another, larger, more terrifying man appears. He wears a monstrous grin and holds a knife aloft, the gleaming blade is sharp enough to cut through bone. He forces Hikaru's mouth open, his grip is so strong, Hikaru can't shake him off. He puts the blade into Hikaru's mouth, the sharp end facing out and-
Haruhi takes the deepest breath she can, holds it for a second, then lets it out.
"That sounds terrible."
Hikaru shrugs. How he can be so casual about this, she'll never know. "I made it through, that's all I care about. It doesn't even hurt anymore, just the right side, when I lay on it for too long. It starts to sting a little."
He runs a finger lightly over the scar on the right. Haruhi can only see a little of it from were she's standing, but what is visible of it does look worse than the right side. Deeper and more jagged. There was a slight redness that may have been merely the sun playing tricks on her, but Haruhi can't help thinking of infected wounds and how they start.
"But it must've been awful," she says without thinking. She doesn't entirely regret it when Hikaru chuckles.
"I would be lying if I said I wasn't scared, but it was a long time ago."
Haruhi can't help wondering how Kaoru feels about this. He hasn't said a word and Haruhi can't even hear him breathe. She almost looks at his face again, but something stops her. He lets out a long sigh, and it eases her nerves a tad.
From there, there is again no talking. They keep walking, as hours go by and the sun sails overhead from one side to the over. It's on the verge of setting when the three finally stop. They are in a clearing with trees all around them. They are black against the sun, covered in empty branches that loom imposingly overhead. Haruhi walks around the edges, looking for fallen branches. Kaoru does the same, but at a much slower rate, because he's arguing with Hikaru about how and when to start the fire. He comes back with significantly less than her.
They sit around the growing flames and Hikaru distributes the bread he's been carrying. There are only two loaves, and Haruhi doesn't need to ask why. The twins glance at the bread, then at Haruhi, then at each other. They seem to speak entirely with their eyes, and when Hikaru breaks both pieces in half, keeping one half for himself, tossing two more halves at Kaoru and Haruhi, and then storing the final half away in his bag.
"Won't be much of a breakfast, but we should be in town by tomorrow anyway," he says.
Haruhi eats silently. The bread is slightly stale, but she won't waste a single bite. It's still so much better than what she got from her kidnappers. The only thing bugs her about it is that she has no idea where Hikaru and Kaoru got it. Or how.
Damn, there she goes again.
Haruhi scowls, and it doesn't go unnoticed.
"Don't like it? Join the club," Hikaru says with a huff. "You know what our chef used to make that was great? This sashimi salmon dish that she formed into all different shapes with this great sauce on the side that she made herself. That was our favorite snack when we were kids, remember that, Kaoru?"
Kaoru, who seems less despondent now, smiles and shakes his head wistfully.
"It's been years, I barely remember what they taste like."
"Don't tell me that," Hikaru says with mock horror.
Haruhi laughs softly, though the unasked questions still ring in her ears.
"I'm not bothered by the food, you guys," she says.
"Yeah didn't think so. Isn't this what commoners always eat anyway?"
Haruhi thinks about responding to that, but that'll just draw attention away from more important matters. She's coming to realize that she can't do that for much longer.
"I was just thinking…" she looks down at the bread, it's crumbling at the end where she's sunk her teeth into it.
"Thinking about what?" Hikaru asks. "About what we're going to eat tomorrow? We have some money on us, it's okay."
"And where did you get that money?"
Though she says it softly, and means it only for herself, the way everything goes deathly silent sends fear coursing through Haruhi. Fear that she's been heard.
"What's that supposed to mean? Kaoru asks, unintentionally confirming her fears.
Haruhi hesitates to answer, though she knows there's no way out of it now. Her toes curl in her boots. It occurs to her that she's had them on for days and her socks are probably filthy.
"It's just… you're bandits, right? You can't expect me not to wonder…"
Hikaru sighs, and there's a gravelly sound like he's twisting himself around on the fallen tree they're using for a bench.
"Haruhi, is that really what you think of us?"
In spite of everything, Haruhi wants to laugh at that, if only a little bit.
"You guys tried to rob me before, that's pretty telling."
"That's not fair!" Hikaru gets to his feet. "I mean, yeah, we've hung around with bandits, but… we only do it when we have no other choice! And we'd never go after a woman or a kid or an old person or…"
He stops and sputters a little, knowing he's not explaining himself well. He finally gets fed up and sits back down on the log, his head down. Kaoru, who's been silent this whole time, finally gets up and moves to sit next to Haruhi.
"I know that looked bad," he says softly. "We learned from those… those people Hikaru told you about. We mostly just travel around, find places where other survivors live and try to beg food off of them. Sometimes we get a little money and we use that. It's like Hikaru said, we only steal when there's no other choice, and we don't hurt anyone unless they attack first."
Haruhi listens carefully, and thinks it all over when she's done so that she'll know exactly what she should say in response. This is starting to get difficult, but she thinks it's lucky for her that Kaoru does most of the work. He's far easier to deal with than his brother under stressful situations.
"Wouldn't trying to rob them technically count as attacking first?" she asks, looking up at him again. "And if you guys don't go after women, why did you attack me?"
Kaoru purses his lips and moves his side to side a few times. "I try not to think of it that way."
That's not a good enough answer, and they both know it, but Haruhi tells herself that's all she needs. It's clear they only do it out of need and feel terrible for it. For now, that's good enough, especially now that she has an alternative in mind that she'll have to run by them soon. First…
"And as for your second question," Kaoru continues. He doesn't go on from there. He looks down as his cheeks start to turn red. Haruhi has no idea what he's getting at until Hikaru looks up again, face expressionless, tone flat.
"We thought you were a guy."
There is a long silence, longer than before, but less tense. And then Haruhi bursts out laughing and has to hold her sides when it gets out of control. Slowly, and with greater humor than perhaps they even knew they still possessed, Hikaru and Kaoru laughed with her. The laughed and laughed and laughed well into the night. For the second night in a row, they were asleep from exhaustion before they knew it.
They start off again in the morning, leaving nothing behind but a burnt out fire and a few crumbs for the birds to pick at. Haruhi quickly finds herself in between them. She's surprised they haven't tried holding her hands yet. Yesterday's conversation is still fresh in her ears, and the stab of pain she feels when she thinks about what they must have been doing all this time is abetting, but isn't completely gone. That brings her back to her idea, and she figures now is as good a time as any to give it a try.
"I was thinking," she says and instantly has both of their attentions. "Since you guys don't have a permanent place, do you want to come back with me? We've taken out a few walls to make for bigger rooms, but I'm sure we can find space for you two. Only if you want to, of course."
Hikaru and Kaoru share a look, one Haruhi can't decipher. Then identical cat-like grins spread across their faces.
"Oh, Haruhi, what a silly question that is," Hikaru says.
"Of course if you're going back to your place, we're going with you," Kaoru continues.
"I mean, do you really think, now that we've found you, we're ever letting you out of our sight again?"
They then go on walking, this time hooking their arms through Haruhi's and gently pulling her along with them. Haruhi go with it at first, but slips out after they've walked a couple of yards. Since she doesn't try to move out from in between them, they don't complain, though Hikaru does pout at her for a second. Haruhi doesn't know why she ever thought she'd get a different answer than that. It's not even the fact that they are still so possessive of her after all these years.
It's that they've reminded her that she's never going to let them out of her sight either.
It rains that night.
Over the remains of the region is a heavy rain that borders on hail. Anyone with good sense and a roof over their heads runs for cover, bolting door and barring windows. Those of do stay out either have no choice or no fear of the merciless raindrops pelting their skin. It's only one town, deep, deep within a forest and situated next to a lake, that a group of twenty men and women stand outside of their own volition, to watch an event that will not be rescheduled no matter how much rain falls.
Before them is another man, this one on his knees and shackled. His hair is in disarray since before the rain started. He is covered in dirt and dried blood, only some of which is his own. He breathes heavily and sends vicious glares at whoever his gaze happens to fall upon. No one is intimidated by him, not now. Not anymore.
They all wait in silence, with only the droplets of rain and the seething of the prisoner to break the silence. A door opens behind the crowd and a new figure steps out. Nobody turns to look at him, they just step, as one, to the side to let him pass. In the near darkness of this night, he has the look of a looming shadow. He is large, especially to the kneeling prisoner, and his eyes are hard and unforgiving. The coldest pair of eyes the prisoner has ever seen.
A shiver goes down his spine, but still he puts on a mask of fearlessness.
"You know, you're a major disappointment," he says as the man approaches. "I've heard all the stories. Don't know a person who hasn't. I bet it'd be really funny if they knew you were just a normal man. Know what I mean, Kaito-sama?"
He spits out the honorific like it's a curse. A few of the crowd members bristle, and step closer to the man, reaching for whatever weapon they happen to carry on them. The man stops then with a wave of his hand.
"You like to talk," he says evenly. "I recall you had a lot to say when you killed two of my men as well."
Behind them, a pair of women, who lean against one another for support, have tears in their eyes that mingle with the rain.
The prisoner snorts and leans back a little, so that his chains clink and clank. "Hey man, they attacked me first. Survival of the fittest, you know?"
The man raises an eyebrow. He flexes his fingers around the hilt of the of blade strapped to his belt. He pulls it out, the massive blade gleaming in the near darkness. How this is possible, no one can say. Perhaps it's just a trick of the light, creating by the fear that clouds the prisoner's mind and that he can no longer hide from Kaito's smirking visage.
"Then you admit your own weakness."
The blade slides through the prisoner's throat like butter. The pathetic man gasps and chokes, as the man sinks the blade into his chest and lets him fall. Within seconds, the prisoner is still, his blood pooling all around him, to be washed away by the rainfall. The man pulls his blade out and walks back the way he came with it still in his hand and fresh with the blood of it's latest kill.
"Have that burned in the morning," he orders the man closest to him. "Make sure it doesn't stink up the place until then."
"Yes, Kaito-sama. I swear it will be done."
A/N: The type of scar Hikaru has is called a Glasgow Grin. The Joker in The Dark Knight has something similar, though obviously, Hikaru doesn't wear clown make-up and he's not a demented sociopath either.