The funeral took place in a church. Soon, it was finally over to the relief of some people. This had been the second death of an Ouran classmate. Haruhi licked her lips, and then bit it gently. She sighed and said, "I'm sorry for your loss, Momoka."
"Thank you," Momoka said as her voice was cracking. She wiped the salty tears from her cheeks with a handkerchief.
"You know," Haruhi said. "Soga-san…he…always liked you."
"I know," Momoka said. "We were very close friends."
"I'm afraid you're not getting what I'm saying," Haruhi muttered, looking down.
"Huh?"Momoka asked. "What do you mean?"
Haruhi looked back up, surprised that the other girl heard her, "Kazukiyo…he loved you…in a romantic way."
"What?!" Momoka asked loudly in surprise. Everyone turned to look at the two. Momoka didn't take notice and continued, "What do you mean?"
"He-"
"Never mind," Momoka said. "I know what you mean. What I mean is…" She took a deep breath before speaking again, "When? When was this?"
"Uh…" Haruhi said nervously before asking, "…remember when we were first-years?"
"Are you serious?!" Momoka yelled, "It's been six years, and he's never confessed?!"
"I guess he was a very shy person."
"I feel horrible," Momoka said, sniffling.
"…I know how you feel, Momoka."
"Really? How?" The sniffling girl asked, doubting Haruhi.
"Someone had feelings for me. They showed it in an…uncomfortable… way for me. I rejected them because of their actions and because I couldn't return the feelings. He died shortly after that," Haruhi explained, squeezing her eyes shut in emotional pain.
"Oh," Momoka said, putting her hand on Haruhi's shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Haruhi."
"It's o-" Suddenly, something in Haruhi's black purse vibrated. She apologized, "I'm sorry but would you excuse me for a minute?" Momoka nodded, and Haruhi quickly walked away.
'He's waiting for me,' Haruhi thought as she hurried to get out of the room. Just as she was about to open the doors, someone had already opened them. Her eyes widened.
"Arai, I thought you-"
"Yeah, I just went out a little for some fresh air." Arai said. "The funeral was getting a little too heavy for me. Especially since it was a suicide."
"Oh." Haruhi said, "Wait, what? They're calling it a suicide?"
"Yeah, that's what they're saying it is." Her boyfriend said, "He left a letter and everything. It turned out it was all planned out."
"Why would he kill himself?" Haruhi asked.
"They said maybe because of hard times. Ya know, he was a politician," Arai said. "They also said he was a man who lived under fear."
"Fear of what?"
"Probably fear of scandals or maybe being murdered. They said that his fear of being murdered pushed him to kill himself before anyone else could," Arai told her.
Haruhi asked, "Whose 'they'?"
"The people. They're all saying the same thing," Arai said. "I didn't know any of them. I tried to find your friends so I could make small talk, but I couldn't find them anywhere. It's like they didn't come."
"Well, that would be rude." Haruhi murmured, "And being rude is not in their Host Club blood."
"Host Club blood?"
Her brown eyes widened. Haruhi hadn't meant for him to hear that. She hadn't meant to say it at all. It just slipped out. She cleared her throat and said, "Um, it's nothing."
"Oh, were your friends in a host club?" Arai asked, curious. Haruhi never spoke about them often.
"Yeah," Haruhi replied, not wanting to talk about it. "Um, Arai, I gotta go comfort another close friend of Kazukiyo so…"
"Can't I go with you?" asked Arai.
"Don't worry, Arai," Haruhi said. "If I find the Host-I mean, the guys, I'll send them over to you for your little 'small talk'."
"Fine," The man sighed. Then his eyes light up. He asked, smiling, "Can I get a kiss first?"
Haruhi blushed and her eyes widened again, "Wha-urm, ah…yes." The brunette closed her eyes and slightly parted her mouth. Arai closed his eyes too and the space between their lips. Suddenly, the doors opened again and the clearing of throats were heard by a certain group of men. The couple opened and widened their eyes in surprise and embarrassment. They parted for breath.
"Hello…heh," a blushing Arai greeted awkwardly.
"Come in, guys," Haruhi said, blushing also.
"Are you two…" Tamaki trailed off.
"Yes," Haruhi replied.
Hikaru asked, "How long?"
"Three months," Haruhi answered. She asked, "Where have you guys been? Arai and I have noticed we haven't seen you till now. Don't tell me you arrived late? And where are some of your lovers?"
"We were here on time, don't worry. We've just didn't want to make our presence pop out of everyone else's." Kyoya told her. "Kimiko and Renge are looking for Momoka to comfort her. Reiko is right over there standing before the casket."
Haruhi turned around to see Reiko staring right at the body. She squinted and thought, 'It doesn't look like she's saying her goodbyes. It looks like she's just standing there, staring at the body. Weird, I hadn't noticed her over there.' Haruhi sighed and said, "I haven't talked with her at all today so I'm gonna head on over." The rest nodded, and Haruhi went over to talk to Reiko. When she got close enough to Reiko, she stood right next to her and looked at the resting body.
"Reiko…hi," Haruhi greeted.
Reiko jumped a little in surprise and turned to Haruhi. She had been obviously startled. Reiko nodded a little and greeted back, "Hi."
"Saying your goodbyes?"
"I was."
"Was? What are you doing now?"
"I'm just…"
"Were you close to him?"
"No. Not at all," Reiko said. "He was always scared of the Black Magic Club. I only knew his name."
"Oh."
"…"
"…"
"That's not his body," Reiko said.
"Huh?" Haruhi said out of surprise. "What do you mean?"
"That's not his body," Reiko said. "That's not him."
"How do you know?" Haruhi said, "Does your family specialize in death-related stuff?"
"One side of my ancestors has been dealing with art of death for years," Reiko snapped. "Don't doubt me. Don't ever doubt me."
"Reiko, no disrespect but you can't just assume," Haruhi said.
"I'm telling you the truth that no one else knows," Reiko said. "Won't you believe me? Or will you think I'm crazy like everyone else?"
'Are the guys treating their women right?' Haruhi thought, 'This is the second time I've heard a girlfriend of theirs being tagged as 'crazy'.' She asked, "You don't think Honey will believe you?"
"I won't try," Reiko said. "We haven't been getting along lately." She sucked in air and put her hands on her face. "I'm terrified."
"Of what? What is making you terrified?"
"Terrified of a divorce, Haruhi," Reiko said. "You don't know how scary it is yet. A divorce especially when you have a sweet child who doesn't deserve to have it happen."
"Reiko, calm down," Haruhi said. "Honey wouldn't do that. He's a reasonable and sweet guy, at least deep down. He loves you and that baby boy."
"His family does care about honor a lot. Honey cares about what his family thinks about him a lot too," Reiko said. "Before we got married, I was 'The Whore'. Now they stopped calling me that, but I'm still a disgrace to them because I got pregnant before I got married."
Haruhi asked, "But are they not disappointed in Honey? Isn't he the one who got you pregnant in the first place?"
"They were for a while but then it seemed to pass over their heads." Reiko said, "The males of the family are kind of proud that Honey got a fuck, they were just upset that he got a girl pregnant too. Me, on the other hand…I guess it's not the same for a girl."
"Reiko, that's horrible." Haruhi asked, "Does Honey know about this? About how you feel?"
"No, he doesn't notice. At least, I don't think so because he's hasn't made it known that he has noticed," Reiko said.
"Reiko, try talking about it with him," Haruhi advised.
"I don't want to anger him," Reiko said
"I don't get it," Haruhi said. "You two looked happy at the pension."
"We looked happy."
"Holy crap," Haruhi realized. "I'm sorry but I have to go meet someone. But please, take my advice into consideration."
Reiko just sighed and said, "This is not Kazukiyo." Haruhi stood there for a second and then left without a word.
Awkward and tense silence had filled the air after Haruhi left. Stares were shared, and it was a few minutes before anyone spoke. Hikaru broke the silence.
"Did you fuck her yet?" Hikaru asked, crossing his arms.
Kaoru scolded, "Hikaru!"
"What?"
"Um, don't you think that's a bit personal to ask?" Arai asked as he felt his sweat drop.
"I just wanna talk about sex right now. Is that so wrong?" Hikaru asked.
"We're at a funeral, for goodness' sake," Kyoya snapped.
Hikaru repeated himself, "Did you fuck her yet, Arai? Or should I say 'make love' to her?"
"I think that's personal," Arai said.
"So you have?"
"No, I haven't," Arai replied, teeth clenched.
"Are you lying?" Tamaki asked.
"Tamaki, not you too!" Karou said, "God, don't people have any sense?"
"No," Arai said, "I'm waiting until she's ready. Whether it will be if we're married or not."
"Are you ready?" Tamaki asked him.
Arai replied, "I'm ready when she's ready. Period."
Hikaru began to speak, "W-"
"Shut up," Mori snapped in a calm way. "Have respect for Soga."
"Right," Honey agreed. "We're not here to discuss who's doing Haruhi, we're here to attend a funeral."
Hikaru sighed. He said, "Sorry then."
"I apologize too," Tamaki said.
"Me too," Kaoru said, "for my brother. He's such a dumbass." Hikaru glared at his brother and elbowed him in the hip. Everyone jumped a little except Kyoya in slight fear and surprise when they heard a familiar female voice.
"Uh, excuse me guys," Haruhi said.
"Where are you going?" The former host club and Arai asked simueltaneously.
"I'm going to find a friend," Haruhi said.
"Who?" The former host club and Arai looked at each other in confusion at why they kept saying the same thing at the same time.
Haruhi sighed and replied, "Renge." She raised an eyebrow and asked, "Hey, are you guys okay? You look tense."
"Well," Kyoya replied cooly, "it is a funeral after all." The rest except Mori nodded nervously. There was silence as she squinted at them in slight disbelief.
"Yeah," Mori said after a few seconds.
"Oh…okay," Haruhi said. She could trust Mori, right? She got passed through them and left the scene.
Everyone excluding Kyoya and Mori let out a breath. Tamaki murmured, "That was close."
"Idiots," Kyoya said.
Haruhi walked down the steps of the church over to a limousine, and knocked on its window in a certain rhythm. The window was rolled down and revealed Tetsuya to be behind it.
"I'm here."
"You took long."
"I'm here."
Tetsuya sighed and said, "Get in."
"I didn't think we were going anywhere," Haruhi said. "You know, I can't go with you. I came here with my boyfriend."
"Just get in," Tetsuya said. "We can't talk in the open like this. It's too dangerous."
"You think someone may be spying or eavesdropping on us?"
Tetsuya opened the limo's door and scooted over as Haruhi took over the seat. He replied, "I was born into a corrupt syndicate who is still chasing after me after I betrayed my loyalty to them." Tetsuya said, closing his eyes in emotional pain, "That's why they murdered Young Lord. And without warning too. They're corrupt and rude."
"Wait, what? You found out the reason behind Kasanoda's death?" Haruhi asked. "Didn't you say he knew too? That he was going to die?"
"Yes, at least part of it, he sacrificed himself for me and the safety of the Kasanoda yakuza…" He paused and squeezed his eyes shut again. He insulted in a tough loving way, "…fool."
"Oh, I thought…never mind…"
"What?"
"Nothing."
"Tell me."
"I thought it was because of me," Haruhi admitted, looking down with guilt and sadness.
He asked, confused, "Why would it be because of you?"
"Kasanoda confessed that he had feelings for me, but the way he tried to show it was…forceful…" Haruhi explained. "I rejected him because I couldn't return his feelings. He didn't blame me."
"Oh, well, rejection of a crush wouldn't drive Young Lord to suicide."
"I should've known though." Haruhi said, "When he kept telling me to go and get out of the room, I should've known it was more than him being upset because of rejection."
"He tried to hurry you out of the room?" Tetsuya asked.
"Yeah," Haruhi said. "I don't like to look back at that night so let's get back to progress." She took a chance to look outside the window. Haruhi saw two men walk up the steps of the church. "They're so late," The woman murmured.
"Who's so late?" asked Tetsuya.
"Those two men and-hey, wait a minute…" Haruhi trailed off as she began to see more men walk up the steps and enter the church. She asked, "Is that supposed to happen with rich people funerals? More people who are mostly men arrive at such a late time? Or new funeral people just enter telling the old funeral people to leave?"
"Um, I don't think that's the case most of the time," Tetsuya said.
"Look," Haruhi said, pointing towards the scene.
"Oh no…"
"Oh no?"
"I-I don't think they're guests," he said softly.
"Huh?" Suddenly, screams and shouts were heard. Haruhi asked, "Tetsuya, what the hell is going on?!"
He ignored her, reached over, and rolled up the open window she was looking through. Then he rolled down the soundproof partition that blocked the front view. Tetsuya ordered, "Step on it." The driver immediately did so.
"Tetsuya, wha-no! What's going on?" Haruhi said, "I need to go back! My friends and boyfriend are in there!"
The man still ignored her as he took out his phone and dialed a number. He said, "Hello? We have a problem. The rival syndicate is attacking a funeral church. They must've expected me to be there. I need to you to go over there to defend the people and with weapons too."
Haruhi was deep in thought as he proceeded to tell them other details they needed to know. 'Why would they expect Tetsuya to be there? He doesn't even know Kazukiyo. Did they have something to do with his death?' She thought.
"Haruhi, are you okay?" Tetsuya asked, hanging up.
"No I'm not okay!" She snapped. "My friends and boyfriend are in danger, aren't they?!"
"Right," Tetsuya said, scratching the back of his head. "Sorry, sorry."
"Where are you taking me?" Haruhi asked. "I want to go back and help."
"What could you do? You don't have any fight training nor any proper weapons at all."
"Still…" Haruhi sighed and asked again, "Where are we going?"
"Somewhere safe."
