This one is a bit shorter, I had to split it and ended up with two completed chapters instead of one. Yay! I just need to finish revising 12, and might make it longer. I'm debating on posting a separate one-shot that goes through each round of the drinking game (FUBAR) in this chapter. I'll let you know in the A/N in the next chapter.

Yuuna, thank you for your wonderful review! It made my night when I first saw it. I'll be getting to Honey's love interest in 12. :D

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Chapter Eleven

Earth, Wind, Fire, Waterfall


"I want to sleep and I haven't eaten," Haruhi spoke in an undertone, hoping to diffuse the twins' plans to celebrate as they invaded her closet. She was no stranger to drinking with them, and didn't feel good about the odds leaning in the favor of her getting violently sick that night.

No such luck as Kaoru tossed a pair of black booty shorts and a form-fitting white tank top at her and Hikaru bolted to arrange having dinner delivered. Haruhi glared at Kaoru, shoving the tiny articles of clothing back into his hands. He retaliated with, "You should be use to this by now," exchanging the tank top for a small pink tee that stopped at her naval.

Kaoru warded off multiple smacks as he ransacked her closet. He finally won out on the booty shorts and a dark grey, long sleeved shirt to be worn under a tightly fitting, black Fall Out Boy T-shirt that Ronnie threw into the room. The twins exchanged high-fives and grinned as Haruhi closed her door with just a bit more force than necessary so she could change.

Booty. That's all Haruhi could focus on in the mirror. Granted, the little pair of so-called shorts made her legs look longer, and the long-sleeved under shirt was very cute with the ensemble. Kaoru definitely had his mother's talent, if not more, but she was unsure of the outfit as she stepped out of the room.

At the twins' loud wolf whistles and Tamaki's shriek at her adorableness, Haruhi pivoted on her heel, every bone and inch of muscle intending on taking her back into her room to throw away the incredibly embarrassing outfit. Thwarted she was, though, as the twins snatched her up and placed her down in the kitchen. "Eat!" they commanded, identical smiles lighting up their faces like a floodlight.

Accepting the fact that they, Kaoru mostly, would not let her dress into something else, Haruhi savored the few pieces of fancy tuna they had left before gulping down the glass of water suggested by Ronnie. She happily munched on a sweet bread roll as she felt the edge of her tiredness taken away, and blushed lightly as Takashi walked into the apartment in a very form-fitting, red short-sleeved shirt and black cargo jeans.

Her breath hitched in her throat at the dark gaze that took to his eyes when he studied her outfit. Suddenly conscious of her bare legs again, the brunette muttered incoherently and sat at the table. Tamaki and the twins fought over praising Takashi for his victory as they surrounded him, and Ronnie disappeared into her computer room to search for a promised alcohol-themed board game. Kyoya and Honey had left on an errand that Haruhi suspected to be a liquor run.

"I could not find the game, but I got these!" Ronnie proudly cuddled three bottles filled with a clear liquid to her chest, and Haruhi grinned widely, causing Takashi to stop in his advance on her and stare at the alcohol, too.

"Tequila," Hikaru murmured, launching for the alcohol Ronnie held out to him, then put it to his cheek and sighed as if reuniting with a long lost friend. A flashback to the previous October when the twins had arranged a secret sleepover startled Haruhi. It involved tequila, as most of their hidden sleepovers had in their last year of high school. Haruhi didn't remember much about that particular night except for the next morning's hangover and the twins coddling her with medicine and soup, but a memory struggled to come back fresh with the sight of those bottles. Haruhi cocked her head at the one Hikaru held, tapping her fingers on the table.

Hikaru whirled away from Ronnie, landing on the couch and tucking the bottle out of sight, laughing as Kaoru fought for his own. Haruhi put away the struggling memory and smiled up at her boyfriend as he escaped the last of Tamaki's praising. His eyes roved up and down her crossed legs, and he flushed as he looked away.

"You had amazing form tonight, Takashi." She took a big bite of her sweet bread and let her lips quirk up in a mischievous smile. "Are you okay?"

"Hn. Fine." He went into the kitchen, snatching Ronnie's last bottle of tequila out of her arms along the way and dumping a generous portion into a glass. He then topped it off with the leftover orange juice and some cherry syrup. Haruhi couldn't help the way her mouth fell open when he took two large gulps of the concoction.

Ronnie beat her to the punch. "Mori-senpai, you drink?"

Nodding, he held the glass up to her in thanks, then drank again.

"I did not take him as a sunrise guy," the impressed American muttered to Haruhi.

"I didn't take him as an anything. No clue at all," she responded, finishing her dinner and joining her boyfriend in the kitchen. Softly fingering the material of his shirt, Haruhi smiled as he quirked an eyebrow. "Where did you learn to make a drink like that, anyway?"

"Mitsukuni prefers liquor that comes from Ireland and the States," he said, narrowing his eyes as his cousin walked in with three large bags stuffed full of bottle of alcohol and mixers. Disbelief spread across Haruhi's face again as Kyoya shut the door behind him, carrying a small cigar box in his hand.

Kyoya smirked in response to her stare. "Don't look so surprised, Haruhi."

Tamaki laughed loudly as he accepted a cigar from Kyoya. "We do this sort of thing every Sunday night."

The twins advanced on the president and Shadow King, demanding to know if their invitations had been lost.

Kyoya gave them a conniving smile. "Where were our invitations to your secret, tequila-binging sleepovers with Haruhi?"

The flustered brunette shrieked in anger, raising her fist at the all-knowing Ootori as she stalked toward him. "Those were supposed to be secret!"

"Not really." Kyoya frowned, unimpressed with her naïve train of thought, and Haruhi immediately felt her blood chill at the rough clearing of a throat behind her.

Twitching, she ignored the roars of laughter coming from Ronnie as she creaked and turned like a rusted robot to face Takashi's blank stare. He was unfazed by her sheepish smile, though he didn't say anything.

"So, what we are learning here, on this glorious day, is that all of you have hidden your drinking habits from each other?" Ronnie grinned like it was Christmas morning.

Everyone looked around, slightly embarrassed, then nodded at her.

"Good God, this is hilarious, and we're even in the midst of a first fight. It's going to be the best night ever."

"We're not fighting," Haruhi muttered bitterly, striding over to Hikaru to take his bottle of tequila. She opened it, put it straight to her lips, and tilted it up, taking several swigs. It burned, but the taste was familiar and pleasant.

Takashi sputtered into his drink and Honey almost dropped the bottle of bourbon in his hands. Tamaki's unlit cigar fell out of his mouth and Ronnie cheered her on. Only Hikaru, Kaoru, and Kyoya remained unaffected.

"Hn," was the negating response to his girlfriend's statement as Takashi assisted Honey in organizing the multiple bottles of liquor on the counter. Haruhi glowered at him and poured herself a half-glass of Hikaru's intended alcohol before said owner squeaked and stole it back.

"Haruhi! This. Is. Precious!"

"Then share Precious with me." She rolled her eyes at him, taking a can of pineapple juice from Honey and filling her cup. After settling down on the floor by the coffee table, she took a deck of cards and shuffled them loudly. Her eyes bore into Takashi as she cut the cards and put them in the middle of the table. Honey took a seat beside her, and Takashi, his expression still unsettlingly blank, sat across the table from her, next to Ronnie. The twins, Kyoya, and Tamaki had wandered onto the patio to enjoy their cigars before starting a sure-to-be-viscous drinking game.

"What are we playing?" Haruhi took the second deck of cards and began shuffling those, too, as she held a fiery staring contest with the either angry, shocked, frustrated, or all of the above Morinozuka heir.

"Fubar," Ronnie said, glancing between Haruhi and Takashi. "I'll, uh, teach everyone as we go along."

"Fubar?" Haruhi broke the staring contest to give her roommate a confused glance.

"Fucked up beyond all recognition. Don't ask me to translate that."

"We don't need you to." Honey grinned. "It sounds like fun."

"So you two…" Haruhi trailed off, moving her eyes between Honey and Takashi.

"After all of the tournaments we win." Honey took a sip of the smooth Irish bourbon in his cup. "I drink Takashi under the table every time!"

"So that must be why you have always declined our invitations to celebrate afterwards." Tamaki settled down on Haruhi's other side, much to the disappointment of the twins, but they quieted immediately at Takashi's discrete glare. Haruhi twitched her nose at the smell of smoke they brought inside, but Ronnie leaned forward and sniffed unashamedly.

"Ah, that's nice."

Kyoya sat between Tamaki and Takashi, ignoring Ronnie. "From what I understand, Honey drinks like a crazy American college student."

"Hey now, best friend, I resent that."

"It's a compliment, best friend," he smiled slightly as she took a moment, then nodded her head, placated.

"So, Kyoya," Kaoru took residence beside Ronnie, who twitched slightly when his knee settled against hers. "You knew about everyone's private drinking parties?"

"Of course I did."

"I'll never stop being terrified by the stuff you can find out," Hikaru muttered, sitting between Kaoru and Honey.

Haruhi sipped at her drink, putting away the second deck of cards and sliding the split deck on the table to Ronnie. Her roommate smirked as she cut the deck into quarters, then stacked the cards together and spread them into a haphazard pile in the middle of the table. "I hope everyone is well hydrated tonight."

"Ronnie…" Haruhi gave her a pointed look, but the American laughed and shook her head.

"I will try my best, Haruhi, but I lose the ability to speak Japanese when I drink." She then made a clockwise motion around the coffee table. "We will take turns this way. When it's your turn, take one card. I will tell you what we do with each card when it is pulled."

She nudged Kaoru, who winked at her as he pushed against her shoulder with his in return. He took a card, and held up the Jack of Hearts.

"Jackasses drink." Ronnie cackled as the boys grumbled at the phrasing, but obeyed the card.

Hikaru pulled the Two of Clubs and took two drinks. Honey pulled a seven, and Ronnie explained "Thumb-master" to them. When Honey put his thumb down on the table, everyone had to copy him. The last person left without making the movement would have to drink.

Haruhi breathed a sigh of relief at the ace she grabbed, and thankfully swallowed only one gulp of her drink, but her luck ran out when Tamaki pulled the King of Spades: Waterfall.

"So." Ronnie gleefully rubbed her hands together. "This is the inspiration for the name Fubar was given. Tamaki-sama starts drinking, then best friend, then Mori-senpai, so on and so forth. Best friend can't stop drinking until Tamaki-sama does, Mori-senpai can't stop drinking until best friend does, eh, so on and so forth. You get it… Haruhi, you're shit outta luck, sorry, sweet thang."

Haruhi paled as Honey's smile grew into an absolutely evil grin. He took Hikaru's bottle of tequila and topped off her drink, diluting the pineapple juice even more. The rest of the color drained from her face.

"Help me," she murmured to Takashi, who hid a delighted smile behind his cup.

"Shit outta luck," he mimicked Ronnie's southern United States accent, earning boisterous laughter from everyone except Haruhi.

"Light weight," Honey chuckled. He nodded at Tamaki, who raised his glass.

For a moment, the club president peered down at Haruhi apologetically, then started the waterfall. Tamaki was kind, lowering his drink after just five seconds. Kyoya, Takashi, and Ronnie immediately followed. Kaoru kept his glass up, his look devious as Hikaru half-glared, half-pleaded with his eyes.

Haruhi relaxed as the twins lowered theirs, but Honey pinched her side, giving her an admonishing look as he kept on guzzling back his drink with ease. She growled at him between swallows, switching hands as her throat began to hurt, and started digging her elbow into his side.

"Fine!" Honey coughed, massaging his ribs, but smirked as Haruhi put down her almost-empty cup and called for a break. She scooted back until her back was pressed against the cool glass of the patio door, pulled her arms through her sleeves, and worked the gray undershirt out from her black tee as the liquor rolled around in her stomach. Tossing the shirt against the wall, she made a face as the guys watched her with amused stares and Ronnie took her cup to make a new drink.

She feared the results of Ronnie's mixing skills when her cup was returned, but when she smelled it the aroma seemed sweet and the fizzing bubbles of the Coke attacked her nose. Pleasantly surprised, she took a tiny sip to roll on her tongue. She liked it, and inquired the mix.

"Coconut rum and Coke." Ronnie nodded, proud that she made something Haruhi liked.

Haruhi thanked her and slid back up to the table after a few more minutes of soaking in the cold from the glass door, fuming slightly at the realization that everyone had their thumbs on the table except her. "Not fair," she pouted, sipping her drink delicately.

After twenty-one more rounds of pulling cards, the laughs and excited yells turned into pathetic groans and quiet requests that the cards be merciful to them. Haruhi took the third king from the deck, her relief audible and her expression conniving as she shot Hikaru a meaningful look. "Destroy him," she breathed, then swayed and hiccupped as she set her eyes on Honey. He struggled to complete the three drinks his Three of Diamonds called for.

"Wait, wait…" Ronnie held up an unsteady hand, covering her mouth for a moment before continuing, "Uh, let's quit."

Choruses of "Thank the Heavens" and "Damn, finally" and "I couldn't take another one" swept the table. Haruhi dropped the tough façade and dragged herself over to the couch to rest against it.

"Haru-chan, I can't do it anymore," Honey mumbled, resting his forehead on the table.

"I...can't either, Honey-chan. I can't...feel my face." Haruhi slurred her words together, her voice even more muffled from burying her face into her arms.

"Don't die yet, we're still playing Truth or Dare before we pass out." Kaoru pulled Haruhi back to the table and Hikaru carefully sat Honey upright again, leaning the very drunk friends against each other.

The twins cracked up as Haruhi muttered, "Shit, I'm smashed." Then they were in delighted tears when Takashi returned to the table, deadpanning at the sight of Honey's head sliding down Haruhi's shoulder to use her chest as a pillow. His expression hardened.

"Mitsukuni."