Hello, I hope everyone had a safe and happy new year. A new year means a new schedule and I was lucky to get an early Saturday schedule, but I got stiffed with Tuesday's off. It's too early in the week. I feel like it ruins my whole week.
Anyway, we had a really busy last chapter. I'd like to thank genkigeek, sadevotchka, KyouyaOotori17, shiroazchan, Kudos4U, E., MayContainRandomness and Scherherazade for reviewing.
I had to leave this as a cliffy. It was the only way the chapter works. Let me know what you think. TTFN...
Last time on Defense Mechanism: Haruhi started to make some headway in the trial, but someone's not too happy about it. After leaving a drunk set of Hosts, Haruhi found herself fighting for her life.
- Chapter 9: Would-Be-Hero -
88888888888888888888888 Present Day (Ten Minutes Ago) 8888888888888888888888
He couldn't keep his hands off of her. She was delicate, sensual and it felt like her creamy skin was just melting in his hands. She had made out with him the whole cab ride there and she was practically stripping in the elevator now.
'I love these American girls, they're sooo easy.' Kaoru noted contentedly.
The elevator opened to their floor and she wrapped her legs around his waist as not to break contact. Using the muscles he didn't know he had, he stumbled down the hall. Propping her back against the wall to get his keys he noticed that the door was slightly ajar and broke off the kiss, earning him a discontented mewl.
Without concern for his potential lover, Kaoru dropped her to the floor and lifted his finger in a shushing motion. Cautiously, he pushed open the door and peered in. He could make the shower running, but not much else. He threw his phone at the irritated looking brunette glaring at him from the floor.
"Go up one flight and call the police." He whispered.
Now, noticing that this was a little more important than getting laid, she opened the phone and ran to the staircase. Once out of sight, Kaoru slowly made his way into the apartment making as little noise as he could. He reached the bookcase and pulled out Crime and Punishment. He inwardly groaned at his mother's cliché-ness. Tucked within the hollowed-out pages of the monster length novel was a small 22 caliber pistol.
Securing the handgun in his palm, he jumped when he heard the muffled sound of some things crashing and what he could only assume was Haruhi yell. The apartment was small by his standards, but when it came to running to Haruhi's rescue, he felt like he was running across the length of Japan.
When he reached the door he could see someone in the shower clad in black clothes holding something. He couldn't see Haruhi, but he could hear her. She was fighting for her life and instincts kicked in pulling his fingers tight against the trigger until his ears went deaf to sound, returning as a high pitched ringing.
The black figure had fallen to the ground, but was recovering quickly. When he stood, Kaoru could see Haruhi on the shower floor. She wasn't moving and his heart was pounding. 'Please, don't let her be dead.' His heart fell at the thought. He lifted the gun again, this time aiming it at the guys head.
He could hear the police sirens in the distance coming closer and smirked despite himself. 'Money does make the police move faster.' He stared the man down and noted that he was Japanese. What kind of Japanese guy is in New York killing Japanese lawyers during a court case involving one of the most prominent Japanese families?
"She better not die." Kaoru cocked the gun to show he was serious.
"I'm sorry for your friend, but I had too." The man in black held onto his shoulder, where Kaoru's first bullet had gone through.
"Who told you to kill her?" Kaoru didn't think his heart could beat any faster, but when he realized that this was a hit, it didn't matter if this guy failed, whoever wanted Haruhi dead wouldn't stop until she was.
"Tell her to drop the case and she'll be fine." Was his answer.
Haruhi shifted faintly and it caught the younger twin's attention. The clamor of police filling the apartment turned Kaoru's attention to the door. "This guy broke into my apartment." The would-be-hero called out to the officer, who made his way to the bathroom cautiously.
"Put the weapon down!" A jumpy looking police officer, no older than thirty, aimed his firearm anxiously at the just as nervous redhead. Without question, the gun was placed at his feet and Kaoru's hands went up.
Without pause the man in black took this distraction to pull out a blade and when he caught sight of the police office with his gun trained on him, he slit his own throat.
"NO!" Kaoru yelled and tried to run to the guy, but was restrained by the officer. "You don't understand he knows who hired him to kill Haruhi." His words fell on deaf ears, because the police officer was handcuffing him. "What are you doing? This is my apartment! That's my friend. I need to see if she's all right."
The officer just handed the redhead to another cop and made his way to the naked girl in the shower. He sighed; the tepid water that had pooled at the floor of the shower had kept her warm at least. Her pulse was thready and she had a bluish bruise already forming around her throat. Pulling a towel off the rack he scooped her up in his arms and transferred her to an awaiting paramedic team.
Kaoru, who had been explaining to a set of detectives what was going on, stopped short as he saw Haruhi being rolled by. She looked so fragile, so near death that he couldn't hold back the tears. It wasn't like him to cry, but the last time he saw her so frail was when she'd past out and almost bled to death back in high school. The thought made him nauseous.
When the police finally let him go he called the rest of the hosts so they could meet him at the hospital.
88888888888888888888888888 Elsewhere 8888888888888888888888888888
The door to a very expensive conference room flew open and a bespectacled glaring brown haired young man, in an expensive looking black suit, stood at the door with another younger looking red head standing beside him, in an open white button down shirt over a red fitted muscle shirt and blue jeans. Everyone in the boardroom collected their things and made their way out the door without a sound.
Closing the door behind them, it didn't take long for the rant to begin. "You said Fujioka wouldn't be a problem, but she's becoming a big freaking problem." The business man's voice was edgy and shaken, but cold as ice and it told of the elder's apprehension. He unconsciously began to pace in front of the ceiling to floor windows that lined the south wall running a hand through his hair and fidgeting with his glasses.
A soft chuckle escaped the other man's throat. He took a seat that hadn't been offered and leaned back as if the man's pacing were for his entertainment. "I told you to relax. She's not a problem. You do your job, I'll do mine."
"Well, you're not doing your freaking job because she's blowing through all of the evidence you planted." The panic in his voice betrayed the power he was trying to exude.
An exaggerated sigh escaped the younger man's lips. "Look, you had a problem and my dad told me to get rid of it for you. That's it. Even if Fujioka-san gets through all the evidence, all it does is free that jerk, Kyouya. It's not like there's any evidence to link the death to you."
The pacing stopped, but the incredulous look on the guys face was almost comical. "ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME? If Kyouya is exonerated he'll take his place as president again. The only reason I told you to pin it on him was because I couldn't steal the money I owe your father if he's in the way!"
The other gentleman shrugged from his seat. "Not my problem. I don't give a crap about Kyouya either way, I never liked the guy, but the case on Takeda's death will go cold. There's no real evidence left." He stood to leave, but stopped at the door when he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"You're just going to walk away! I knew you were useless." He spat angrily. He folded his arms as if to say that he didn't need him anymore. "You don't have to worry about taking care of the girl, I already did."
The younger of the two blanched at that news. Discarding his nonchalant bemusement he grabbed the lapels of the elder's suit, rage filling his very being. "What did you do to Haruhi?" He demanded with a rough shake.
"I don't know how you do business, Kasanoda-san, but I don't leave loose ends." He tried to look passive, but the look in the redhead's eyes sent a chill down his spine. He'd had enough dealings with the yakuza to know not to get on this demon's bad side. Yet, now that he was here, now that he had been forced to depend on this future head of the 'family,' he let his pride or fear or maybe even stupidity get in the way.
He knew that this brat had been friends with the host club before, that's why he had been so adamant about having someone else help him. He knew that Fujioka was special or dare he say important to the redhead and it was clouding his better judgment. This kid was going to get him thrown in jail or worse killed. How could he trust a guy that was so indifferent about his problem?
'Who wouldn't take matters into their own hands?' He thought miserably.
Ritsu's lips curved up into a mischievous smirk. "If she's dead…" He threw the bastard to the wall of glass with so much force the double enforced pane cracked. "…so help me Akira ... you're dead." With that he walked out of the office, pulled out his cell phone, and made his way to the elevators. "Tetsuya, go by where Haruhi's staying. I think she's in danger." He snapped the phone shut. 'I'm so sorry Haru-chan, please be okay.'
888888888888888888888888888 With the Host Club 888888888888888888888888888
Four men ran into the hospital, Tamaki had passed out and slept on Mori's shoulders. Kyouya, who had been the least drunk of the five, ran up to the receptionist and requested the information on their little doe-eyed brunette.
The woman had been rather opposed to giving out the information until Kyouya had laid his host charms on her. Within moments he had Haruhi's location and the young lady's telephone number, which he promptly tossed in the trash as soon as he was out of sight.
According to the woman, Haruhi was still in the emergency room. There was a two visitor limit in the ER that would normally go disregarded by the hosts, but there was a burly security guard standing by the door to enforce it. The receptionist had given them an 8x10 ugly fuchsia laminated pass, stating that the other was already in use.
Kyouya flashed the monstrosity of a pass at the guard while the others sat on the uncomfortable plastic benches provided in the waiting room dejectedly. The emergency room seemed quieter than Kyouya thought it would be. He walked up to a nurse who directed him to Haruhi's placement.
Slipping behind the pulled curtain Kyouya's heart broke at the sight. Haruhi appeared to be resting, but the pained look on her face and the way she tossed back and forth told him it wasn't a pleasant sleep. He could see the bruise that spanned the width of her neck and his hands involuntarily clenched. He was glad the guy was dead; if he wasn't it would have been a countdown until he was.
Kaoru looked up from a chair by her side; the tears evident in his eyes. He got up and escorted his senior into the walkway. "She's stable and there shouldn't be any long term damage to her throat." He looked like he could burst any second. "I don't know what happened." His voice conveyed his grief. He told Kyouya everything that happened and as he finished it almost felt like a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders.
There wasn't much he could say, but Kyouya placed a grateful hand on the youngest twin's shoulder and nodded. "Thank you, Kaoru, you saved her life."
The moment, as touching as it was, was ruined only moments later when two uniform clad officers walked up to the bespectacled raven and grabbed his arms tightly, handcuffing him. Kaoru had stood there mouth agape, shock stealing his words of protest, as he watched everything happen. Kyouya instinctively struggled with the two men, only to have then grip his arms tighter.
"You're under arrest." One of them spoke when the cuffs were secure.
"I haven't done anything wrong!" Kyouya glared daggers at the civil servants, wishing them severe bodily harm for having the audacity to do this right now.
The second officer didn't say a thing as he began to escort his prisoner away. It was the first officer that filled him in. Apparently in his panicked state he'd forgotten about his house arrest and he was definitely farther than two miles from the apartment. He cursed this night. It couldn't possibly get any worse.
8888888888888
As always thank you for reading... please review. BTW the next chapter is going to be a little longer than usual because again, I didn't know where to cut it off. Later
