Disclaimer: The characters of Ouran High School Host Club anime and manga belong to Bisco Hatori who is an absolute genius in my humble opinion. I am merely a fan with a vivid imagination.

Chapter 10: Facing Reality

The Morinozuka family were all gathered along with the Haninozuka waiting for their many guests to arrive. Maids were bustling around ensuring adequate seating and refreshments were available. Haruhi and Satoshi had been glomped by Honey the minute he walked through the door and warmly greeted by the rest of the family. Dinner was a somewhat noisy catch up with the littlest Morinozuka Shiro providing entertainment in the form of him trying to feed himself his vegetables. Laughing cutely as he smeared pumpkin in his hair whilst madly waving his spoon around, he kept his family in stitches at his antics. Satoshi claimed his nephew's spoon waving was his attempt at practising Kendo already!

Sighing heavily Amelie picked Shiro up at the end of the meal and gave him his bath before putting him to bed. Mori read to his son and watched him as he fell asleep mid story. Smiling at this moment of normality he wished his Brother and now Sister-in-law Haruhi could enjoy quiet moments such as these. Haruhi especially deserved to have peace; Mori knew however that peace would be long in coming to her as she faced the reality of that night in court. He prayed heaven would help her through, so she can enjoy her life with Satoshi and begin her career as a lawyer.

Returning to the meeting room Mori was greeted by the rest of the hosts, their families and the detectives handling the case. The family lawyers were in attendance too despite the fact that both he and Haruhi had passed the bar and were fully qualified lawyers themselves.

Kyoya had sternly warned Tamaki about glomping Haruhi the minute he saw her reminding him that his daddy hugs of death were not appropriate right now. Tamaki had taken his advice to heart and greeted Haruhi with probably the only normal hug she had ever gotten from him, it had unnerved her, but she was grateful as inwardly she had steeled herself not to react if he hugged as he normally did.

The meeting covered the charges Ranka was facing, the testimony of the witnesses and the reports of the treating medical personnel both those who attended Haruhi and those treating her father. Apparently the doctor treating Ranka now was the one who warned Kotoko previously about his mental state and would be able to testify that Ranka was indeed insane at the time of the offence. The detectives advised that the district attorney was advocating an indefinite custodial sentence in a prison mental health facility where Ranka could continue to be treated. They felt this was the most humane way to deal with a man who had clearly lost contact with reality.

Haruhi sat quietly at the end of the meeting processing everything she had heard 'I know he lost his mind and I am grateful that he will get help instead of prison; but even with all that has happened I miss my dad. Knowing he was insane at the time helps a little, but still doesn't erase what he's done. Because he didn't get help before it got so bad I have had my trust in him completely shattered. He is not who I thought he was, I almost feel like he is a stranger to me and it's the dad I knew that I miss.' she thought sadly. Looking at his wife Satoshi wrapped his arm around her shoulders and gave her a gentle squeeze he knew hearing all this again would be difficult and was grateful they had arranged to have counselling tomorrow, he would do all he could to prepare her to face her mentally unwell father in court.

The court date was in 2 weeks time but wouldn't be announced for another week this would give Haruhi two weeks of intense counselling to help her manage the stress of the attack itself and the trial. It would also mean that they would remain hidden from her grandparents for only one more week. Satoshi sighed, he would be grateful when all this is over and they can really begin their married life. He and Haruhi both felt that despite being married their life together had essentially been put on hold.

One and a half Weeks Later...

Koji entered his employers building feeling like he was about to face his execution. He had succeeded in finding Haruhi Fujioka but she was no longer a Fujioka and the family she had married into was unlikely to be manipulated by Toshi san the way he wanted. Not only that, but his investigations showed that Haruhi was a bright, intelligent somewhat stubborn women, with no problem expressing her opinion.

All in all she was just like her mother and apparently that similarity caused her own father to attack her violently. Koji was surprised how quickly he had located her once news of her father's arrest and trial date had been released to the public. If this is what happened nearly 3 months ago to cause her to move; Koji suspected her new husband or his family had something to do with suppressing the information (if only he knew it was our infamous Shadow King) and that alone gave him pause as to how powerful they really were. True his employer was powerful but it didn't compare to one of the top five most powerful families of Japan that Haruhi now belonged to.

Knocking on the office door he was bidden to enter, taking a deep breath he opened the door and bowed respectfully to his employer. With any luck his services would no longer be needed now he had found the heir, as he was unwilling to tangle with the powerful family she had aligned herself with. "Ah Koji come in, tell me what have you found?" Misao Toshi inquired.

"Toshi Sama I have succeeded in locating your granddaughter and her father. It seems that Haruhi was assaulted by him approximately 3 months ago and was hospitalised for almost a month. He was taken into custody and his trial is set for next Tuesday, all reports seem to indicate Fujioka san has suffered a complete mental breakdown." Koji began.

"WHAT?!" Misao exploded. "Is she alive? How bad were her injuries? Where is she now?" He fired of in rapid succession to his investigator. "Her injuries were severe but she survived them and I believe she is receiving therapy to regain her vocal strength as he attempted to strangle her. As to where she is Toshi Sama, she is with her husband." Koji replied solemnly. Thinking hard Misao absorbed what Koji had just stated. 'So she is married, this complicates things slightly as I was hoping to use her to secure the third son of the Oortori empire or the Souh heir. No matter I'm sure whatever insignificant commoner she has married will be able to be bought off. If she has children then that will be an entirely different matter' he mused.

"Toshi Sama I believe that I have fulfilled your request to find your heir, I would like to conclude our business today as I have another client anxious for my services" Koji bravely lied. "Yes, yes that will be all Koji my secretary will hand you the cheque on your way out. By the way what is the family name of my granddaughter's husband?" Misao responding but wanting to know whom he had to run off. "Morinozuka, Toshi Sama" Koji replied before bowing and leaving quietly.

'Morinozuka, huh. Now where have I heard that name before?' Misao mused not noticing Koji had left. As his memory supplied him with the connection to the name he smirked to himself. 'Not a Souh or an Oortori but still this may not be so bad after all' He thought.

AN: Sorry for the extended delay I have had a bit of upheaval in my personal life and haven't really felt like writing. I was encouraged by all the reviews that I have received and hope you enjoyed this chapter.