Hey all... *peeks around corner* My deepest apology for the LATE update... Please don't kill me for it?

So... Here in the 11th chapter (never thought it would become so long! I thought maybe like 8-10 chapters, that is, until I actually started writing..)

IMPORTANT NOTE: I AM PUTTING THIS FIC TEMPORARILY ON HOLD.

You see, there is this little thing known as reality that is catching up to me... so yeah... I'm not sure when I'll resume it, but is should (hopefully) not be later than January 2015. So I'll apologize in advance, but I WILL finish it! So don't give up on it ok?

Scar made some more quick arrangements to go and pick up clothes for Haruhi. He could call Sunny or Bunny during the ride over to Haruhi's place.

'Tomorrow is NOT going to be an easy day… Please don't let anyone get hurt….' That was the thought that went through Scar and all his men's minds. After all, the safety of the kids was, and always will be, their top priority.

Chapter 11: Insanity on the Road

Yuichi Ohtori, respected doctor and confident of a very dangerous group of people, had been at the hospital since 5am and had checked both Emmy-chan and Fujioka-chan to make sure that they are both fit to leave the hospital. He had signed their release forms just a few moments earlier.

Yuichi looked at the seventeen year old walking beside him. He simply couldn't understand how one so young could handle so much pressure every single day without cracking. Yuichi had nothing but the utmost respect for the grown-up child. Scar had nearly been killed time and time again when helping some of the kids in his care, and yet there he goes, sticking it out and helping even more of those children even though the danger keeps on getting bigger and bigger.

Scar was acutely aware of Yuichi-sensei staring at him. It did make him a little uncomfortable, but he had been at the wrong side of the 'Game' way too long to allow his discomfort to show. Learning how to hone your senses in a way that lets you be aware of everything, yet not letting anyone else know that you know was the first skill of instinct that he had developed.

When they reached the girl's room, Yuichi grabbed Scar's shoulder lightly.

"Are you sure you guys can handle this?" Yuichi was worried, but questioning Scar was never really productive if you wanted straight answers.

Scar turned back to the doctor. "You know I'm not." With that, Scar entered Haruhi's room to tell them that it was time to leave. Yuichi was surprised that he actually got answer, but the more pressing matter was that he didn't like the answer he had been given.

XXX

At exactly 5:50am, 5 limos were parked at Tokyo General Hospital. Two were empty except for the drivers; the other 3 contained the hosts plus Satoshi and Yasuchika.

Just as the hosts got out of their respective cars, Scar came out of the hospital with Haruhi and Emmy-chan in tow. The girls were taken to one of Scar's limos, much to Tamaki's distress. He had wanted to ride with his 'precious daughter' to 'keep her from being afraid of the scary people.'

Kei rolled his eyes at the idiot blond before he turned to Morinozuka to inquire about their luggage. 'Three suitcases for only one person? Oh joy…'

'Ugh, now I remember why Scar hates rich people… At least the Morinozuka and Haninozuka brothers only have one bag each.'

Tamaki had packed what looked like a month's worth of clothes, the twins had two suitcases each and kyoya seemed like he had taken space into consideration with only one bag.

'Surprising really… I kinda expected him to be one to over-pack like the others. Huh, miracles do happen.' Rex thought with a practiced blank face.

That was only until Kyoya's driver took out another bag which seemed to carry Kyoya's entire arsenal of tech: laptop, extra cellphone (why exactly?), satellite phone, tracking devices etc. that's Kyoya for you, always prepared for whatever is to come.

The biggest problem was that Tamaki had decided that he simply couldn't leave his beloved Antoinette behind. Daichi and Tamaki had gotten into a verbal thrashing match - (with Daichi doing the thrashing and the blond only trying defend – without success) - over the subject until Scar decided it was time to break it up.

Scar stared at the golden retriever for a long moment before he spoke to her.

"Sit." A simple command delivered with all the authority of a drill-Sargent. The dog immediately followed the command. No trace of her unlimited energy present as she waited for the next order.

"Down." Antoinette lay flat on her belly with her head on her paws.

"Hm, let's see…" a mutter came from Scar as he walked a few steps away before a sharp "Heel." met Antoinette's ears. Like the loyal animal she represented, Antoinette jogged to Scar's side and kept in step with him.

Tamaki seemed close to tears as his loyal companion followed the other boy's orders with no hesitation at all when Tamaki couldn't even get her to sit still for more than a second.

Unknown to all the others, Scar was very much aware of Tamaki's feelings of betrayal towards his dog. He gave an evil little smirk before he gave the dog the order "Away."

Antoinette bounded up to Tamaki and covered him in sloppy wet kisses, as though she had not just followed someone else around.

"Well, she certainly isn't military-standard, but considering who her owner is, I guess that is understandable. Fine, she can come along. As long as you don't come complaining to me if she ends up with puppies later."

With that said, Scar turned to Hani, Mori and their brothers. The others only gaped at Scar and back at the suddenly hyper dog, not really knowing what to think of the sudden change.

"You four will go with the girls along with Daichi and Kei. I'll go with the rest of 'em along with Rex and the dog. See y'all at the house. Kei, I can trust you'll explain everything on your side?"

At Kei's nod, Scar turned right into the fire that is Tamaki. Tamaki started yelling and generally throwing a tantrum about being separated from his 'precious daughter' and demanding he be the one to ride with her.

"I simply MUST ride with my precious daughter! You cannot separate a father from his daughter in such a heartless way!" With all the drama and flare, Tamaki had tears running down his face. Scar's men promptly burst out laughing at the crazy bond. Even shy little Emmy-chan was shaking with silent laughter.

Scar merely raised an eyebrow at all the craziness around him, but did not give any other reaction. He was surprised that Emmy-chan was laughing, but since she was standing next to Haruhi, a little ways away, he decided it must be Haruhi's presence keeping the little girl calm.

"Ok y'all get the cars loaded and let's go!" Scar completely ignored all the complaints from the hosts that were assigned to ride with him. Haruhi and Emmy-chan were the first to be herded into the car by Daichi. After the girls were in, the other guys didn't take too long to follow.

When Tamaki tried to insert himself in between Mori and Haruhi, Scar grabbed him and twisted his arm painfully behind his back. Even Scar's own men, were surprised by the sudden action, but made no move to try and stop their Boss.

"Ah-ah, you're coming with me. Haru-chan will be perfectly safe with your martial-artist friends with her. My men will never raise their hands to a woman unless she proves a danger. Now you will stay quiet and get in the other car. Do you understand?" Scar spoke quietly right next to Tamaki's ear.

Tamaki didn't want to ride with this seemingly crazy person, but at the glares he got from Scar, his men and also Kyoya, he decided to relent, for now. He gave a weak nod and sighed in relief when Scar let go of his arm.

Mori lightly shook his head at Tamaki's craziness, before he proceeded to get in the car. Hani and Satoshi followed soon after. The rest came along when they saw that no fight was about to break out again.

The first car set off and the rest of the hosts, not wanting to get left behind, jumped into the remaining car with Rex and Scar. As soon as the driver set off, Scar began talking.

"Ok, listen up you simpletons! Where we are going, there are more children like Emmy-chan. They are all, and I mean ALL OF THEM, are victims of abuse, torture, neglect, or living on the streets for longer than a year."

All around there were sharp intakes of breath. It was clear that none of them had expected that. Rex kept a close eye on the Ohtori's reaction. He was the one they needed to look out for, for any wrong kind of behavior. The other three were 'known-danger' cards and will be under close scrutiny as well. None of the four boys in front of him will be allowed to be left alone with any of the kids at any given time.

After the initial shock had slightly sunk in, and the reactions noted, Scar continued.

"You will treat all of those kids with respect. You will not raise your voice or your hands to any of them. Their mental states are very fragile in some cases, so be very careful with what you do or say around them.

"The girls especially tend to shy away from physical contact, so keep your flowery words and your hands to yourself. It goes without saying that you will not try to charm any of them. Genuine compliments are allowed, but don't insult them in any way. Some of them had been subjected to sexual abuse.

"Now you listen to me good, all of you. If any of you, in any way harm one of the kids in my care, I will not hesitate to put a bullet in your brain. Those kids are and always will be my first priority, you people, are not. Insult them, and you will most likely find yourself duct taped to the basement ceiling.

"I am always armed. I have eyes and ears everywhere. My men might be slightly more lenient, but I will not. You hurt a kid, I hurt you. It's plain and simple enough that even you simple-minded people should understand it. If you cannot be removed from the premises, you will be locked either in your room or the basement. Am I understood?"

Tamaki and Hikaru were not very appreciative of the direct threats. They didn't deem it necessary, as they did not think that they would or could be a danger to anybody. After all, they were self-proclaimed gentlemen.

Kaoru was quiet after Scar's little speech. He was feeling more than slightly nervous, since he had no idea how to handle any kind of abuse-victims. What if he did or said something wrong? He didn't want to hurt somebody, accidentally or not.

Kyoya did what he did best. He observed all of his friend's reactions and the reactions of the two strangers. He could tell that neither Scar nor Rex were happy with Tamaki or Hikaru. Somehow, only Kaoru seemed to take Scar's words seriously. 'Had something happened to make Kaoru react like that?'

Kyoya himself was not too comfortable with the idea of sharing living space with abuse-victims, but he will do his best to keep himself from doing anything harmful to any of them – even though he had no idea what was considered 'harmful' to people who had survived something so terrible.

Scar sighed internally. He did NOT look forward to the coming week. It had only been half an hour and he was already tired of those spoilt, rich brats. How exactly was he supposed to survive with all of these crazies running around his one and only place of relative peace?

XXX

With Haruhi and the others:

Haruhi took a good look at the two men who had gotten into the car with her and her friends. They seemed friendly enough, but appearances can be completely deceiving – she knew from experience.

Kei noticed the scrutiny, but said nothing yet. There was much to be said, but he really didn't think that he was the best choice for the explanations. Emmy-chan was also in the car, which made the impending discussion even harder. Kei didn't want to be the one to let Emmy-chan know that other people had even the slightest idea that she wasn't a 'normal' child.

Daichi studied all the strangers in the car. The Haninozuka brothers seemed quite set to ignore each other's presence as much as possible, and the younger Morinozuka seemed a little tense, but that was understandable under the circumstances.

Mori waited for the talk that he knew was supposed to come. He understood more than he thought even Kyoya did. Scar had looked quite comfortable with Emmy-chan, who Kei had said was an abuse victim. That showed Mori that Scar must work with victims often, or at the very least, with shy children. Now he was only waiting to hear the details.

The silence stretched on for a few more minutes before Haruhi broke it in her usual blunt way.

"I have a question. Ohtori-sensei said that Scar-san would be Emmy-chan's legal guardian from now on, but how is that possible? He doesn't look much older than any of us."

Kei and Daichi shared a glance before Kei spoke up.

"The Boss, um, he has never had much of a childhood. Due to circumstances, Scar had been forced to mature way before his time. He had been emancipated by his grandfather at the age of twelve. Since then he had been taking care of not only himself, but also others.

"Everybody who works for Scar, including me an' Daichi here, has been saved by the Boss. It's one of the main reasons why we tend to stick around for so long. Scar may be the youngest out of all of us, but he has the biggest heart and drive.

"At only seventeen, that guy has already done what some can't do in their entire lives. He owns several large and successful businesses all around the world and he takes in the abused kids that he knows of."

Kei went silent for a while. The next part was not something that he felt was right to share with strangers, but somehow it seemed necessary. Daichi noticed Kei's discomfort and decided to take over. Scar's past was his own, and not for any of his men to share with others, so Daichi turned the topic back to the kids.

"This is important, so please listen closely. Every single one of the kids at the manor had at one point or another been abused. It doesn't matter in what way, but they have all been hurt. Scar had saved all of them somehow. Some of them had been living on the streets when Scar took them in. Others had been taken from their abusive homes and placed in foster-care. Scar's place also acts as some sort of orphanage. The kids can be adopted, but they also have a say in whether or not they would be comfortable with going with the parents.

"Scar is very careful when any adoption is a possibility. He does thorough background checks on both parents and meets with them personally. Other adoption agencies just let the kids go to have one less kid to take care of, but Scar's first priority is always the child's safety."

Kei took over from there.

"Please treat all those kids with the respect they deserve. They tend to shy away from physical contact, so don't touch them unless they approach you first. Be careful of what you say to them, compliments are fine, but don't insult them – not even as an intended joke."

The hosts all nodded their understanding of the situation. Haruhi, however, was not satisfied. Neither of the guys had really answered her question about the guardianship-issue and she stated as much when Kei had finished talking.

Daichi took it upon himself to answer.

"Because Scar had been emancipated, it means that he is, according to the law, legally an adult. That means that he is treated as an adult in everything, which enables him to take on the role of legal guardian for the children he takes in."

That was surprising to everyone. None of the hosts had even thought of that when Kei had said that Scar was emancipated.

Mori thought back to what Kei had said about Scar running several businesses across the world. How did he balance that with taking care of the kids? How many kids were they talking about anyway?

Yasuchika chose that moment to speak up.

"You keep talking about 'kids' as in plural; just how many are you talking about anyway?"

Kei smiled a little as he answered the grouchy-looking teen.

"Including Emmy-chan, there are currently fifteen children living at the mansion. Along with everyone else, there are a total of 24 people normally. Add you as the guests, there will be 31 humans in the mansion.

"Counting the dogs that sleep inside, along with the one your other blond friend brought with him, there will also be 11 dogs. The other dogs normally stay outside."

Everyone just gaped at Kei as he finished talking.

'FIFTEEN KIDS? And what was that about dogs?'

That had been completely unexpected. Yasuchika paled at the thought of sharing living-space with people he had no idea how to act towards, after all, he usually just said whatever he wanted without having to worry about anybody else's feelings. Now what was he going to do? He had only expected like one or maybe two other kids, not FIFTEEN!

Hani and Satoshi were openly gaping like fish out of water. A number THAT high? Nervous glances were exchanged between all the guests. Daichi felt the need to face-palm, but refrained.

'Did he really have to say anything about the dogs? Idiot!'

XXX

Back in the other limo:

Kaoru was nervous. He had a question, bet wasn't sure whether it was ok to ask or not. Scar seemed to sense that and 'opened the field' – so to speak- by asking if they had any questions.

"Any questions boys?"

Kaoru fidgeted a little before he spoke.

"Um, how many… children are there? And how are we supposed to know what is Ok to say or how to act around them? I mean… it's not like any of us had been around people like that, let alone children…."

He trailed off at the end of the sentence, not really knowing how to formulate his questions better.

Rex unexpectedly gave Kaoru a sympathetic smile. He understood the concerns of the other teen very well, Rex himself had been plagued by the very same worries the first time he had ever come into contact with the kids.

"There are currently fifteen. Their ages vary from as young as 3 years old up to 18 years old. 7 Boys and 8 girls – including Emmy-chan."

Not even Kyoya could hide his surprise at the number. Kaoru paled even more and Tamaki and Hikaru's mouths were hanging open.

Scar sighed and warily ran a hand over his face before he continued.

"It's kinda hard to tell you what to do or not to do since it really differs from person to person. The only things that count for all of them are stuff I already said.
Like no touching unless the kid approaches you first.
No yelling or screaming at any of them. Don't insult them even if you mean it as a joke.
No trying to charm the girls – they are the most delicate.

"That's really all I can tell you not to do to any of them. The rest is really different from one to the next and you will simply have to pay attention to their reactions.

"If they are acting scared, back away and let them see your hands at all times. Don't ever force your presence on them if they even slightly seem to fear you. Try not to fully block the doorway when you enter a room – they would feel safer if they have an open exit if/when they feel threatened."

Scar raised his eyes to the roof of the limo in thought. There really wasn't anything more to say to prepare the rich-kids for what was to come.

The seriousness of the situation was (very) slowly starting to dawn on Tamaki and Hikaru as well. Kyoya and Kaoru had filed the advice into memory, both of them praying that they will not be the cause of someone getting hurt.

"Just how old are you anyway? How come you know so much about those kinds of situations?" Hikaru didn't like feeling like he was being talked down to and that was pretty much all the guy called 'Scar' has been doing since they had met.

Scar raised an eyebrow at the rudeness, but said nothing of it. He did after all greet both twins with a fist to the jaw, so he couldn't really reprimand anyone on their manners. Rex was doing an excellent job of hiding his amusement.

Scar couldn't help but smirk at the reaction he just knew was coming when they found out that he was only seventeen. Imagining their reactions, he carefully kept his face blank as he answered Hikaru's question with only one word.

"seventeen."

Hikaru and Tamaki's jaws dropped to the floor at the answer. Kaoru looked like he was trying to for the 'world's biggest eyes' with the way his eyes widened at the answer. Kyoya was also not immune to the shock. He toppled a little sideways before managing to regain a little of his composure.

Tamaki began spluttering and trying to form coherent sentences with little success. After he got his aw off of the floor, Hikaru started yelling and generally causing a ruckus.

Scar tried, he really did, but seeing the reactions, he simply burst out laughing until his sides hurt. Rex also let out a few chuckles. 'These people are amusing.' He thought silently. They were dangerous for the kids, but their reactions were quite funny.

Kyoya only looked at everyone. 'Did he even tell the truth?' He couldn't believe it. Scar was almost the same age as Tamaki and himself. Was that true? Their laughing at the other's reactions suggested that it was only a lie told to see the respective hosts' reactions, but Kyoya did not detect any lie either. It made him a bit uncomfortable.

After all, how could a mere seventeen year old boy…. Never mind…

Scar eventually calmed down enough to answer Kyoya's unasked question.

"Yes, it is true. I really am seventeen."

Kyoya stiffened. How had he known that Kyoya was uncertain of the truthfulness of the statement? He had not voiced the question and he had excellent control over his facial features, so how?

"Because I'm very good at what I do." Scar told Kyoya with an I-know-something-you-don't-and-I'm-not-telling-you type of attitude. Scar could practically read the emotions on a rock. His entire existence relied on reading people and because he dealt with yakuza more often than not, he became way more than 'just good' at seeing the truth and reading emotions and unasked questions.

Kyoya was a tad bit hard to read, but Scar could do it easily since Kyoya had lost his composure earlier. At the hospital, the Ohtori had been worse than a closed book.

Everybody sat in silence for almost 25minutes when Scar suddenly perked up.

"Finally!" he breathed a sigh of relief, "Home sweet home!"

tbc

Thanks to all my wonderful reviewers and a special thanks to KanameZeroYuki who corrected me in chapter 10 that the wooden sword used in Kendo is actually a shinai and not a bokken as I had it.

And also thanks to Kerilou95 who had proofread and corrected a large part of this chapter!

I'll read y'all when I get back OK?

Kitty

Edited: 7-17-2016