Two weeks had passed and Yumi had still not woken up. The club continued their daily routines of going to school but each person was thinking and praying for Yumi to wake up. The empty seat in Haruhi and the twins' classes was just another reminder that their friend was not there. Even the club meetings were quieter. The meetings were postponed until today due to the police needing the room for evidence purposes. The guests were even asking about Yumi and how she was. The hosts did their best to try to act like everything was alright but it still felt as though something was missing. Yumi had become part of everyone lives and now that she was missing it always felt like there was a void.
The doctors had been keeping Takashi's parents updated on Yumi's condition and had said that she was no longer able to breathe on her own at all. Her body was still so weak and they were not sure if she would be able to wake up at all. It sounded cruel but the doctors were only being honest in this kind of situation.
The host club was sitting in silence after the guests left. No one really knew what to say.
"So…what do you guys wanna do?" Hikaru finally broke the deathly silence in the room.
"I dunno." Kaoru sighed.
"We could go to the mall" Haruhi suggested. She did not intend to shop since she did not have a lot of money but maybe just walking around could be enough to cheer everyone up.
"The commoners' shopping center! Wonderful idea Haruhi!" Tamaki smiled with glee.
"Sure" Hikaru smiled.
"Sounds fun" Kaoru added.
"Alright" Kyouya closed his laptop.
The group exited the music room and walked out of the school and into a waiting limo. The group sat in silence during the short drive to a large shopping center. The group filed out of the limo and Haruhi guided everyone inside. She had been through a loss, and knew that Yumi was not really gone. She was still alive, even if it was because a machine was doing the breathing for her. Haruhi knew that focusing on something else would help the pain go away so she thought the mall would be the best thing to get the group in a happier mood.
"Where would you guys like to go?" Haruhi looked at the group with a faint smile.
"There aren't any clothes id wear here" Hikaru sighed.
"Mother would kill us." Kaoru added.
"Come on guys let's at least try to enjoy ourselves." Haruhi sighed.
"Haruhi is right, come on let's pull ourselves together, we don't want to look like miserable boys do we?" Tamaki smiled, putting his princely façade on yet again.
"Boss is right" Hikaru stood up straight and put on a smile.
"Yea" Kaoru smiled.
Kyouya simply nodded and with that the group walked into the mall. The group walked around and looked at all the 'commoners shops' seeing several things that looked odd to them. The twins ran around looking at clothes that were from their mother's collection years ago that were finally down to what they called a 'commoner's price range'. Their mother had been a designer for years and like most clothing depreciates in value. The twins noticed that most of these outfits were at least three years old.
Tamaki was enjoying looking at all the cooking equipment that he knew absolutely nothing about since the servants did most of the cooking. He had Haruhi explain every machine that he did not know.
Kyouya was walking around looking at the different businesses and writing down random notes in his secret black notebook which no one ever knew what was written in its pages. Whenever Kyouya was not hiding behind his laptop it seemed he was either writing on a clip board or writing away in his little black notebook. Each person had theories about what was in the notebook. The twins guessed a hit list while Tamaki said it was a revenge book. Meanwhile Haruhi believed it to be notes about business.
The group all sat together at a small table in the food court. No one was really hungry so they were all just sitting together talking.
"Well this afternoon was wonderful" Tamaki sighed happily. He would be happy doing anything as long as he was with Haruhi.
"I have to admit that I had fun too." Haruhi smiled softly.
"Yea I never thought a commoner's shopping center could be this much fun." Hikaru chuckled.
"Yea I was surprised to see so many of mother's old designs here." Kaoru added with a slight laugh.
"So Kyouya any news about Yumi?" Haruhi looked over at the silent Kyouya.
"Nothing since last night and all they said was there was no change in her condition since they put her on the ventilator…" Kyouya spoke acting as if none of this was affecting him. He still had Mr. Morinozuka's words embedded in his mind that he should be strong for Yumi. He owed her that much since it should have been him in that hospital bed if she had not tripped him. He wanted to be strong and did not want to dwell on self pity.
"Well it is good that she hasn't gotten worse." Kaoru smiled awkwardly not sure what else to say.
"You know the saying things get worse before getting better" Haruhi smiled slightly.
Kyouya simply nodded before continuing his notes in his little black book that hid his face. His still felt guilt over Yumi getting hurt to protect him but knew that she did it for a reason, even if it was an impulsive reason.
"Hey, how about when Yumi gets better we all go to the beach again." Tamaki smiled trying to liven the mood.
"Yeah, we always have so much fun there" Haruhi smiled.
The group continued to laugh and joke about plans at the beach while Kyouya kept his face behind his book only half listening to the conversation going on around him. He knew that keeping busy would keep his mind off of Yumi and her condition. He always had her on his mind but if he did not focus on things such as business than it would ruin him and make him spiral into depression. He was jotting things down when he suddenly felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Must be father…He thought to himself as he shoved his hand into his pants pocket and he pulled out his phone. He did not even bother to read who it was from as he hit the open button to reveal the message. The words written on the tiny screen were enough to make his heart stop. His hands froze and the phone fell from his hands onto the plain white table.
"Kyouya-senpai?" Haruhi looked over at him.
"She's awake…" He spoke in a barely audible voice…