I am not sure if you like this story :(
Haruhi grinned as she walked out of the classroom. The cold didn't seem unpleasant this morning. In fact, she loved how wind played with her hair and whipped its icy breath on her face. When she woke up, she was well relaxed and excited for the day. It didn't even bother her that they were going to shoot Renge's movie. Her mind was occupied with something else, something genuinely warm and heart-soothing. She remembered again the honey lights in the library yesterday and remembered their conversation. When he said let's be friends, her heart throbbed in her chest excitedly.
It seemed to be a great birthday present. It was her sixteenth birthday yesterday. She had been alive for sixteen years, but somehow yesterday felt a special day. She didn't know why the idea of being friends with him made her so happy, but it did, and she decided not to fight against it. A stubborn part of her thought that her friendship with Ootori Kyoya wasn't genuine―merely a product of their preposterous relationship. She was, after all, a source of nourishment for him, and they would have never crossed paths if not that strange incident and her insistence to help him. This thought did poison and subdue the excitement she felt. It trampled down the butterflies in her stomach.
The probability of them being friends, if things were different, seemed low. Haruhi sighed and walked to the backside of Ouran high school. Renge-chan was already there, and she had gathered a great number of people as well. A group of people with professional looking cameras and different equipment were running around. Haruhi narrowed her eyes and stared at them in confusion. Renge-chan didn't tell her about all of this. Now she was really nervous.
"Oh, there you are!" Renge-chan chimed in, seeing her standing there paralyzed in shock. "Come here, soon it's your part."
"Who are these people?" she asked, staring at the guys wearing caps.
"I have hired a famous director to make my movie. You know, the one who made the movie about vampires; 'Millennium Snow'. Have you watched it? We should get together sometime and watch it. I know you might not like stuff about vampires and all, but it's really good," Renge screamed, pulling Haruhi towards her and shoving a stack of printed paper in her hand. "These are your lines. Learn them now."
"What?" Haruhi knitted her brow, staring at the script. "But you told me..."
Renge had already walked away. Haruhi sighed and sat down at the nearby bench. It was cold. She looked around to see if there was any snow on it, or it just felt so cold because it was a metallic bench. There was no snow on it, but it was frozen. Suddenly the harsh February weather appeared even more severe. She wished she had the excitement before she walked into the film-making site. She looked around to find all of her classmates scattered around, chatting with each other or staring at the handsome boys of the Host Club who were the main characters in whatever this movie was going to be about.
Haruhi cleaned her throat with a slight noise and stared at the script. It would be better to read it before her crazy friend decided to pull her up in front of the cameras.
'I will die of sorrow and pain if you don't grant me your love,' her brows went up as she read the line. 'I think of you every living moment, and I will run away with you if the whole world goes against us.'
Renge-chan overdid herself. This was utterly ridiculous. Who was her character anyway? And why was this nonsense her first line? Where was the part that said what she was supposed to do while speaking these words. The script didn't look like one. Haruhi sighed frustrated. She had told Kyoya-senpai that they couldn't meet for the break, because she had to be in this movie of Renge-chan. She'd rather have her blood sucked than her soul tortured, reciting these stupid lines. Haruhi laughed, realizing that the first part of the metaphor was not a metaphor at all. People always had this overactive opinions about having someone else touch a part of their body or even have part of it. But she thought it was an ordinary act, there was nothing intimate or personal in giving her blood to another person. Strangers did it all the time in the hospitals.
Body was a body, something that wasn't very unique about each person. It was something exposed to the external world. It was tiny fraction of herself; a small representation. It would have been intimate if she had her soul, her self, her thoughts open and vulnerable to the scrutiny of others. Those things that no one else but her had access to, that would make it intimate, sharing feelings and thoughts. There is nothing intimate about sharing a part of you that can't be hidden. One's feelings was always hidden. She could look at people and see the expressions on their face. Renge-chan smiled, and Haruhi could guess that smile means happiness, but she wasn't sure that whatever she felt when she was happy was the exact same thing Renge did now, right here as she smiled.
But yesterday in the library something intimate happened. She had shared a part of her; the part that longed for her mother, the part that missed her childhood, the part that was fragile and vulnerable. It felt intimate, and she knew that he reciprocated. He did tell her about his family. He spoke of his own opinion about things that were hidden in his mind. Haruhi's heart flattered at the thought, and the poison that was in her stomach started to fade away, replacing with sweet epinephrine, rushing to overtake every single cell in her body.
"What are you smiling about?" she heard Renge-chan's voice. "You like the script, huh? I wrote it with Suoh."
"Tamaki-senpai?" Haruhi asked surprised but then nodded in understanding. "Should have seen it coming."
"It's going to be a great movie," the girl screamed. "I have put a kiss scene between me and Takashi."
"But don't you want your first kiss with him to come naturally?" she asked.
"That's true," Renge sighed. "But I don't think he will act so quick. He didn't even ask me out yet. Kissing him might quicken things, and he will realize that he likes me."
"But the entire school will see it," Haruhi said, looking at the students gathered. "Would that be okay with you?"
"I have to do what I can to make him mine," she said excitedly. "You would understand if you were in love with someone. We should probably work on finding a love interest for you."
"I already have a love interest," she smiled. "It's graduating Ouran with honors so I can go to a good university."
Renge's brightened face darkened, and she rolled her eyes. "Bore!"
Haruhi wanted to respond back, but her attention went to a girl standing in the corner. It was her classmate Ayanakoji Seika. She looked at her with such an angry expression that Haruhi felt shivers go down her spine. She wondered what made the pretty girl so angry, and why she was staring at her like that.
"Haru-chan come forward," Renge pulled her up. "You need to get your make up for the scene."
.
Kyoya stood far away from the rest of students and looked at everything going in the yard of Ouran High School with a bit of resentment. Houshakuji had raised such a clamor he could hear them even from far away. He couldn't meet Haruhi because of this nonsense and that made him really disgruntled. He swallowed the thickness in his throat, pursing his lips as he realized how much he craved her company. He had never ever wanted to spend time with any other human being. It felt surreal. He clenched his hands.
She had said yes yesterday. The reassurance that she wanted to be his friend and part of his life made him feel a peculiar type of pride as if he had accomplished something. He had regretted the moment he had asked her to be friends. He had regretted and felt relieved afterwards that he dared to risk. It was spontaneous and unlike him. But he felt very very good after she said she wanted to be his friend. For the first time. He had felt free, unimaginably himself. Her 'yes' gave him a feeling of a self, of being autonomous.
His eyes lit up with happy twinkles when he spotted her, walking to the filming site. She stopped and stared at everyone with fear. He blinked surprised, wondering what made her feel so. But then redhead jumped in and pulled her towards the benches on the side and shoved bunch of paper into her hands. For a second, he wanted to run towards her and greet her and ask her how she was doing. But then he realized that it wouldn't be a good idea to attract the entire school's attention. His father would know of it the moment he does something like that, and he sure didn't want his father ever to be where Haruhi was involved.
Was he being protective of her or himself?
She smiled. He wondered if she read something funny in those papers in her lap. She was busy with the filming and he decided to read a book instead of looking at the others. He would ask her later on every question he could think of about the day that they didn't spend together during the break. The book he was reading was really interesting. Haruhi would like it too. They started to share books with one another. He liked her books because they smelled of her. Her fresh, sweet, flowery smell that made his mind go blank, feel relaxed and euphoric. He looked happier recently. His father didn't suspect anything, and he hoped it would stay that way.
He didn't know what would be the old man's reaction, but he knew that it wasn't anything he would want Haruhi to know about. He couldn't let him know. Something loud grabbed his attention, and Kyoya stood up. There was a panic in the filming site. Someone was injured. He spotted the Hitachiin twins chasing a few other guys. From the look of their uniforms they didn't belong to Ouran. And then he smelled it. He smelled the familiar scent of blood in the air, rushing towards him and making the endorphins spread in his brain.
It was the scent of her blood. He searched for her among the people who were gathered in the yard and couldn't find her. He didn't know why he panicked. He had never felt this way. He had never felt so worried about another person. He walked down in quick, hasty steps, forgetting all reason and thought, forgetting that he was supposed to keep his distance from her when there were others around.
"Haruhi, please wake up," Houshakuji was screaming tears in her eyes, shaking the unconscious girl.
Kyoya's eyes widened when he saw metallic tubes around her body. They must have fallen on her, and someone pushed them aside. It must have been Morinozuka Takashi who was trying to calm down the redhead.
"Someone get a doctor here," the girl was screaming.
Kyoya stood there paralyzed for a few seconds. He stared at her, and the thought that something terrible happened to her made him sick. Everyone was in panic, and no one seemed to know what to do. After a moment of standing there immobile, Kyoya rushed forward. It seemed everyone was surprised by his sudden appearance. He moved through the crowd and rushed to the girl lying on the ground in the cold snow. When he reached her and grabbed her hand, Houshakuji stared at him shocked, but didn't protest. When Kyoya found her pulse beating, his own heart found its life at the same moment.
"Is she alright?" Renge said through her sobs. "Is she alive?"
Kyoya looked at her. "She is alive," he said, and his voice didn't come out concerned. It was dry and neutral which surprised Kyoya, but he was glad even though he felt like the world was spinning around him. "There is a possibility that her neck or spinal cord is injured."
"What does that mean?"
"Did you move her?" he asked. When she didn't respond he asked this time in a more cold and loud tone. "Did you move her?"
"No," the girl cleaned the tears on her cheeks with the sleeve of her jacket that she wore over her uniform. "Should I have?"
"No," Kyoya sighed and then he turned to the gathered people. "Please move away. You are standing too close. She needs to have some air to breathe."
He realized that the lack of strong reaction to his appearance was due to the fact that everyone in the school knew about the Ootori family and their role in the medical field in Japan. He was from a family with long history in medicine. They didn't make anything out of it, and Kyoya was thankful.
"We should take her to the nurse's office?" Renge said.
"No," Kyoya protested, "her spine might be broken. We can't move her. Did anyone called for doctor? We should just hold her still until the doctor arrives."
"Tamaki-sama went after a doctor," someone said from behind and then whispered in a lower voice, "All this trouble for a stupid lowly commoner."
Kyoya turned to look at princess Ayanakoji, but before he could give her a warning look, the redhead sitting in the snow next to Haruhi's unconscious body, jumped up and pounced at the other girl.
"You stupid bitch," Renge screamed and reached for the other girl's hair to everyone's astonishment. "You think I don't know that you have called those thugs to attack Haruhi. You think I didn't notice all the nasty things you do to her during classes. You think I will tolerate you doing this anymore."
Kyoya hardly kept his eyes from growing wide. The redhead practically wrestled Ayanakoji into the snow, pulling from her long, silky hair.
"Let me go," the girl whined. "You are insane."
The eldest Morinozuka son pulled Renge up and tried to keep her away from the other girl.
"Let me go, Takashi-kun," Renge fought against his hold. "This bitch needs to pay. I am a terrible friend for letting this cow to get away with so much crap."
All of this was enough to shift the attention from Kyoya to Renge. And no one even noticed when the injured girl opened her eyes.
"Haruhi," Kyoya held her shoulders down, worried to let her shift or move. "Can you hear me?"
She stared into his eyes, and there was a light confusion in her chocolatey eyes. She stared at him for a few seconds and then moaned in pain. "I am fine. Let me get up."
"No," he protested. "It might be dangerous. Do you feel any pain in your back?"
"No, I am fine," she sighed, "I think I might have injured my leg though."
Kyoya looked down at her leg and quickly rolled up her pants. There was a small gush on her leg. The blood was leaking. That's what he had smelled. When he tried to touch the skin around the wound, she winced. He looked up at her. She seemed to have a normal breathing, and her body didn't seem to be sweating. She sat up suddenly with difficulty.
"Oh, Haruhi," Renge pushed away her love-to-be's hands and ran to her, "Are you fine? I was so scared."
"I am," she smiled, but her smile faltered when she tried to move her leg. "Ughh, that hurts."
"You are losing a lot of blood," Kyoya informed her and then suddenly he leaned forward to her surprise and draped his hand on her waist and scooped her up in his arms. She nodded, but suddenly lost her consciousness again and her head fell closer to his chest where he could smell her hair.
"Thank you, Ootori-san," Renge said and her voice was serious, he nodded and they walked towards the school infirmary. The redhead stopped and looked at the disheveled Ayanakoji-san. "We are not done," she promised.
Her body was so light. Renge-san followed him. They walked in silence, in hasty steps. Kyoya looked at the redhead sideways. He had underestimated this girl. She was a pretty good person. Crazy, but good. She still seemed pretty upset about what has happened.
"Houshakuji-san," Kyoya spoke politely, grabbing the girl's attention. "May I have the video-recording from your cameras."
"Why?" she asked surprised, going into a defensive mode.
"I would like to review them. If whatever you say about Ayanajoji-san is true, I think it would be better to take matters into the school disciplinary board."
"Oh," the girl, scratched her head. "Of course! Honestly, I didn't know you were actually a good person."
How blunt! Kyoya would have chuckled if not the unconscious girl in his arms, bleeding from the leg injury. "Before anyone can do anything about it, could you please obtain them for me?" he asked, hoping to make the girl go away.
She stopped and looked at him with determination. "You are right," she said, "Take Haru-chan to the nurse, and I will go and get the recordings."
Kyoya nodded, and the girl ran back. He kept walking to the school and looked at Haruhi's face. She seemed relaxed. But her leg must have hurt a lot if she lost her consciousness again. He hoped it was nothing serious. Her body was warm and soft. He could feel it even through the thick jacket she was wearing. He walked into the nurse's cabinet, and the woman jumped up, seeing a student carrying another one.
"What has happened?" she screamed. "Put her here in the bed."
The door was opened and a doctor walked in. Suoh-san stepped in after her. The blonde looked surprised to see Kyoya and awkwardly waved at him. Kyoya nodded slightly, and the classmate left the room.
"What has happened to her?" the doctor asked, quickly setting to check her.
"I wasn't there, but heavy objects had fallen on her," Kyoya said. "Would she be alright?"
The doctor smiled and nodded. "Yes, she seems alright. Nothing is broken."
Kyoya sighed with relief, but the big cut on her leg that the doctor was disinfecting made him feel uncomfortable. The woman noticed and smiled.
"Don't worry," she said playfully, "I am very good at putting stitches on wounds. There will be no marks left on the body of your lovely girlfriend."
She winked at him, and Kyoya involuntarily blushed. He didn't even find the words in his head to protest or say anything. He wasn't even thinking about her body or any scars on it. He had left a few himself on her arms. They were healing, but he had never thought that girls or anyone for that matter cared about perfect unblemished skin.
"She is pretty," the woman said, taking her tools into her hand. Kyoya was so lost in his thoughts that he dumbly nodded and made the woman smile even wider.
"You need to leave, young man," she said softly. "I have to take her clothes off to make sure there are no other injures or cuts on her body.
"Yes, of course," he mumbled embarrassed and walked out of the room. "Thank you, sensei."
He rubbed his face when he closed the door behind him. What was it? Why was he acting like a fool? He had tried not to draw attention towards him and her only to carry her in his arms into the school's infirmary and basically admit a relationship with her that he didn't even have to a doctor. He was out of his mind. But when he saw her body on the ground he was so scared, he didn't think about any of those things even for a second. Was it even normal to feel this way?
"Kyoya-kun," he turned to face chairman's son. "Are you alright?"
"Of course," Kyoya straightened himself. "It's a bit shocking that a student got attacked during the class hours in the school, don't you agree?"
"Yes," the blonde nodded sadly. "I just went to talk to my father about this. They have taken them to the police; the ones that attacked her. I don't know why they even picked on her. She doesn't seem the kind of person to be involved with that type of people. I don't know her well enough. She is a little quiet and doesn't talk much when she comes to Host Club with Renge-chan, but―"
"Excuse me, Suoh-san," Kyoya interrupted, "I need to talk to Houshakuji-san."
"Of course," the blonde nodded in understanding.
The redhead knew valuable information. He would make sure that Ayanakoji Seika stayed the hell away from the girl. He didn't really care if anyone would start questioning his motives. She was his friend, after all.
A/N-I decided to include this part from canon, too. The relationship between Haruhi and Kyoya I hope is progressing naturally and it doesn't seem forced. Sometimes it's hard to tell when you are writing it and re-writing a few parts. I want to know your opinion on the chapter and hope you all are doing well. For the record, "Millennium snow" is a manga from Bisco Hatori, the person who made 'Ouran High school host club' and yes, it's about vampires. :)