Disclaimer: I don't own Ouran. I believe I've said that already. Thank you for keeping the lawyers away.

CHAPTER 9: DETERMINATION

Haruhi smiled for her friends as they hugged her and greeted her brightly, particularly the certain blond idiot king who crushed her in a hug the second he had the chance. Glancing back at the still-open door to her father's room, she saw the nurse finish with the bandages while Ranka turned to watch the reunion. Ranka also smiled as much as he could manage at the happy scene, even though his eyes narrowed slightly at seeing Tamaki grab his daughter and claim her as his own yet again.

"My princess! My princess! Daddy's here at last for you! Oh my baby girl! Are you all right? My baby! My daughter! I was so worried for my little girl."

The words came out quickly and tearfully as Tamaki Suoh held Haruhi in a vice-like grip almost around her neck. He sobbed as he buried his face in her hair and came close to strangling her. To save her from asphyxiation, the twins pulled Tamaki's arms away from her and stepped between them.

"Give it a rest, Tono. Haruhi's a lot tougher than she looks." Hikaru irritably stated while pushing Haruhi behind him and moving her backwards.

"You don't need to slobber over her so much." Kaoru chimed in after his brother as he pushed Tamaki away from the petite female Host Club member and glanced at his brother. Hikaru, upon meeting his twin's eyes, placed his hands on Haruhi's shoulders protectively and watched the half-French blond slink back to where Kyouya waited patiently.

"Hikaru, Kaoru, it's okay. He's only being himself." Haruhi did not want to make her senpai feel bad. He may have overdone his emotions, but the blond's heart was full of love for her which always spilled over when she was in his presence. No real harm had been done.

"Oh, and Haruhi, this is yours." Kaoru stated as he handed Haruhi a bag with a few of her things that she had had on her the other night.

She reached into the slightly-worn tote bag and pulled out her freshly-cleaned blue jacket and smiled as she put it on. There were no traces of ashes or even a faint acrid smell of ash embedded in the fiber. Instead, the jacket felt soft and smelled of lavender and even a little bit of mint. Haruhi then saw her favorite pair of loafers at the bottom of the bag and put those on her feet, since she had no other shoes on other than a pair of hospital slippers. The servants at the Hitachiin estate had cleaned and polished her shoes so they looked newer than the day she bought them.

"Thank you, guys." Haruhi smiled gratefully at the twins, causing a small amount of scarlet to wash over Hikaru's face. Kaoru glanced at his brother and smirked just a little bit. He would probably be teasing his brother later about this.

Kyouya decided then that it would be a good time to confer with the doctors and nurses tending to Ranka, so he slipped into the room where Haruhi's father lay and shut the door behind him for privacy. He wanted to assure the older man that his daughter would have a safe place to live for the time being. He also started mentally preparing for Haruhi's return to the Host Club.

Plans to advertise the "poor host in need" were already churning away in the back of his mind.

In the meantime, Tamaki had recovered from his temporary funk and had walked back toward Haruhi, stopping when he approached Mori and Hani. He didn't want to relapse into his former behavior with his princess in case the two seniors decided to haul him completely out of the corridor and bar the doors behind him.

"So what happens now? When do I return to school?" Haruhi asked the Hitachiin twins who each had a hand on her shoulder and were protecting her from her hovering "father" Tamaki.

"You can return at any time. Kyouya had us collecting your homework, and we've got your replacement textbooks waiting for you at our place, as well as extra replacement uniforms," Hikaru informed her while he started guiding her toward the double doors leading to the elevator and ultimately to the parking garage.

Noting the expression on the brunette's face as she mentally calculated the cost she imagined was being added to her debt, Kaoru added, "Don't worry about the cost of that stuff. Our grandmother took care of it. She told Kyouya that in no uncertain terms, not one yen was going to be added to your debt. And believe me; you don't want to cross Hitachiin-obaa-sama."

Haruhi sighed in relief. At least this was one financial burden she would not have to worry about. She imagined the conversation between the twins' grandmother and Kyouya and wondered how such a woman could have intimidated the Shadow King. She giggled slightly at the mental image, but quickly suppressed it as the door to her father's hospital room opened, revealing the shadowy dark-haired teenager in the girl's peripheral vision. Because the twins were trying to get her attention on the way to the parking garage, and because Kyouya's expression seemed a little too neutral, Haruhi decided not to inquire as what he had discussed with her father.

At least, not right now.

Inside the Hitachiin limousine…

"So Haruhi, think you're up to coming to school tomorrow? We've really missed you. It just felt so empty without our toy," Hikaru said as he nodded to their driver to get them back to their mansion.

"I haven't missed that much time, and. I'm sure you guys managed just fine without me there." Haruhi reassured them as she watched the television on the other side of the limo. Hikaru idly flipped channels, looking for something that was not boring by his and his brother's standards. Suddenly Haruhi gripped his arm just as he was about to switch off the news broadcast.

"Stop for a second Hikaru. I just want to watch this." Haruhi glared at the television screen as she noticed the face of the same newscaster she had seen earlier. The man was clearly no journalist, according to Haruhi. Even though he wasn't broadcasting on the apartment fire, he didn't seem to have any kind words for the victims. She listened to his words with barely-restrained anger.

"…these local emergency shelters are currently strained for space and resources because of these tenants who claim they have no other place to go." The newscaster's voice sounded devoid of any compassion for these people. In fact, he almost sounded like he was blaming the tenants for crowding the shelters. He clearly had no business reporting the news if he was going to be subjective to this degree.

Haruhi's eyes narrowed at the man's casual-sounding words. Why couldn't at least sound like he cared about the plight of her neighbors? Then she thought of the man's over-inflated salary. The guy probably made enough money that he could buy another apartment for himself. Maybe even a whole apartment building. He had no idea what she and the other victims of the blaze were going through.

Hikaru immediately picked up on the young girl's tense body language. "Haruhi?"

The girl who heard her name lowered her face from the TV screen. "It's okay, Hikaru. You can go ahead and change the station if you want." She said nothing more and instead lowered her head and tried to count the fibers in the carpet on the floor of the limousine.

The twins thought they heard a soft sigh of worry escape their friend. What else had this person said about her situation?

As they pulled up to the front door of the Hitachiin estate, Haruhi stared up at the grand white columns and the hundreds of windows catching the afternoon sunlight. As she stepped out of the limo behind Hikaru and Kaoru, she had to resist the urge to gawk at the vast house in order to avoid seeming rude. To take her mind off the overwhelming splendor of the twins' family home, Haruhi automatically turned around and started to reach for her bag that she placed on the floor of the limousine. But the driver handed it to her instead.

"Thank you." She wasn't sure whether or not she was supposed to address the driver directly, but she really didn't care about that. He was still a human being after all.

"Not at all, Fujioka-sama." Bowing to her and the twins, he got back in the car and drove it towards the parking garage.

"Welcome home, Hikaru-sama and Kaoru-sama. Welcome Fujioka-sama." Two female voices spoke in unison, and Haruhi turned at the sound of the twin maids who waited in the main hallway to the right of the stairs. They bowed low for the trio as they stepped through the double doors.

"Hello Kiku. Hello Yuki," The Hitachiin brothers replied in unison back to their servants.

"Haruhi will be staying with us for the time being. I think you already know what happened to her home," Hikaru placed a hand on his friend's shoulder and squeezed it slightly.

"Please show her where her room is," Kaoru added beside his brother.

"Yes, Hikaru-sama and Kaoru-sama. This way, Fujioka-sama." Normally, the twin maids would have picked up any bags that had come out of the limo, but since Haruhi had nothing but the clothes on her back and a few personal items in the bag in her hand, they simply gestured Haruhi to follow them.

"Thank you again, Hikaru and Kaoru. I appreciate your kindness." Haruhi smiled at the two boys. Then she followed the twin maids adding, "I'll get to my homework now, and please tell your grandmother thank you as well."

The three women then walked up the stairs, leaving the two young men to watch them until they were out of sight. Once they heard the door to Haruhi's room close, they turned to each other with unreadable expressions on their faces.

Unreadable to everyone but them, that is.

"What do you suppose got Haruhi so upset in the car?" Kaoru ventured to ask his slightly older brother as they handed their jackets to a nearby servant.

"That newscaster obviously. He must have said something in a broadcast that made her mad." The same thought had been running through Hikaru's head and he didn't know exactly how to handle it, or even, if he should handle it at all. This might be something for Kyouya to deal with, because I think I'd tear that guy's head off in one quick twist for upsetting Haruhi like that.

The two boys headed to the kitchen to grab some juice and a snack. Hikaru opened the massive refrigerator to grab out some orange juice and wasted no time in opening the carton when something cool and smooth jabbed him in the shoulder. He turned to his right and looked at the offending object with some distaste. His twin was holding a glass out in one hand as he put the other glass down on the counter.

"Hikaru? Remember what Dad said about you drinking juice directly from the carton?"

Groaning, the older Hitachiin brother took the proffered glass and poured juice for him and his brother. How does Dad know this stuff?

Upstairs in Haruhi's room…

"Everything you need is in this room, Fujioka-sama. Please let us know if you need anything else." Yuki (Kiku?) spoke pleasantly to the young commoner girl as she pored over the incredible amount of clothes she found in the closet. The twin's mother had outfitted Haruhi with an array of beautiful fashions that would flatter the petite brunette in every way.

"Thank you…Yuki-san is it?" Haruhi had only met the maids a few times and couldn't readily tell them apart as she could Hikaru and Kaoru.

"Yes, I am Yuki. And this is Kiku." The other twin maid bowed for Haruhi at the sound of her name. Both were flattered that Haruhi could distinguish them without any trouble.

"We will be taking care of you, Fujioka-sama." Kiku smiled for her mistress before she moved over to the bed halfway across the room and fluffed the pillows up a little bit more. The bed that she and her sister had worked on looked big enough to hold her as well as the entire host club and had elegant silk sheets more suited for a honeymoon suite than a regular guest room.

Facing the gigantic window, Haruhi saw a desk with her various schoolbooks and a new bag that the twins had given her that held a lot more stuff than she would normally carry. The desk had a laptop on it as well as all the necessary school supplies to replace the ones destroyed in the fire. Haruhi looked at the laptop, marveling at its sleek black design as well as its clear, sharp screen when she turned it on. Then she turned to the pile of homework that lay ahead of her and figured she wouldn't have too much trouble catching up. She had read ahead in most of the subjects anyway in order to remain ahead in her classes.

"That's very kind of you," Haruhi replied gratefully, then turned to the desk with the books piled up on it. "I guess I'd better tackle my homework now."

"Please call us if you need anything," the twin maids responded with a bow, then took their leave of the room.

Sitting down in the big gray ergonomic chair, Haruhi settled on her first subject and started poring over the reading material and working on the assignments one at a time. As she worked, the pile became smaller and smaller and in just a few hours, Haruhi had finished her homework. Not yet finished with her studies, Haruhi opened her calculus book and was starting to read ahead when there was a knock at the door.

"Come in." Without looking up from her book, Haruhi figured it was the twin maids coming to help her pick out an outfit for dinner.

Instead, she saw Hikaru—and only Hikaru—walking into her room with a tray of tea in his hand. He smiled for her, but Haruhi knew he was thinking about something because of his somewhat subdued mannerisms and the delicacy at which he set the tray down.

"Ah, Hikaru. How are you doing? Do you need any help with your homework?" Then she noticed the younger Hitachiin hadn't shown up. "Umm…where's Kaoru? Won't he be joining us?"

"He felt that I should talk to you alone." Hikaru faced the brunette as she closed the book. He shifted his weight for a moment and then took a deep breath. "What's bothering you?"

"Hikaru?"

"In the car, I noticed you got really upset when you saw that newscaster talking about the victims of the fire. I know you feel bad for them because you've lived with them all your life, but why…" Hikaru paused when he noticed color floating to Haruhi's cheeks. Lowering her eyes to him, she told him about the reporter's first broadcast that she had heard in the hospital.

"He just doesn't seem to care. Does anybody care besides you guys?" Haruhi started to feel the emotion coming back as she got up and paced around in front of a very puzzled Hikaru. Something crackled to life in her soul, and she couldn't stop the words from coming out, no matter how clumsy they sounded. "We may be commoners, but that doesn't make us any less human. Do you understand me, Hikaru Hitachiin? Lineage and wealth don't matter to us the way it does to…to people from your background." Haruhi struggled to remain tactful, but remembering the broadcast caused a cascade of emotion from her.

"Just because we've lost our homes doesn't mean we've lost our souls, our identities, or our right to live a peaceful and contented life in which we don't have to worry about tomorrow." Haruhi drew a ragged breath and ran a shaky hand through her hair as if collecting her thoughts.

"This man just slams us! He doesn't care! He could have made some effort to be sympathetic, and maybe it's just his professional detachment, but these people need help! Not just my father, not just me, but everyone we grew up with. Hikaru…I want no one to be left behind. No one. If being with you all, that is, the Host Club, can put me in a position to help these people then please, let me try to help my neighbors."

As she thought of the blazing apartment and the despairing faces of her neighbors, Haruhi angrily wiped a stray tear away and continued.

"I don't care what this does to my debt. If I know Kyouya, he'll probably raise it to a point where I'll never get it paid off unless I work it off through three consecutive lifetimes. But I don't care about that anymore! After all, what is a debt? It's just a bunch of numbers to me. These people are not numbers. They're my neighbors, and my friends, and I don't want them to feel like no one cares. I don't want to be like that newscaster, just dismissing them like they're useless statistics. Don't you see, Hikaru? I want to help them."

Kaoru entered the room nibbling on some pretzels as Haruhi finished her speech. "Sorry, but I overheard everything. Hikaru, I need to see you for a few minutes." Turning to Haruhi he added, "After we get back, do you want to take a tour of the gardens? I think our grandmother has some beautiful orchids she'd like to show you." Kaoru sensed that Haruhi needed to get some fresh air, but he still needed to discuss a few things with his brother.

"Sure, I'd like that. Thank you, Kaoru. And thank you both for listening," Haruhi replied as she sank down into the chair at her desk. The twins hugged her in unison, and Hikaru whispered in her ear, "Why not wear that pretty lavender sun dress that Mom designed? It's really soft and we'd love to see you in it."

"We'll be back," Kaoru added in her other ear as he beckoned his brother to follow him out of the room so Haruhi could change. As the twins shut the door behind them, Kaoru pulled out his cell phone and dialed an all-too-familiar number.

Less than two days later, the now-forever-nameless newscaster found himself without a job, barred from all media work, and banished from the country.

TBC.

Author's note: Well I have been draggy about getting these chapters out. Sorry, but I recently started a new job and I have a life and bills I have to balance. Thank you for your patience.

I'll try to get faster with the updates, but I am a pretty bad procrastinator. I am trying to reform though. Don't worry; I'll try not to make you wait too long for the next chapter.

Hope all is well with everyone. More to come. Until next time.

Gee, I wonder who Kaoru called? (hint hint).