The door was suddenly opened and Tamaki burst in, "Kyoya, I have a horrible sunburn―" the blonde paused, staring at at Haruhi and Kyoya shocked.

Chapter 11: Aftermath by Tigyr


Tamaki's interruption didn't faze Kyoya in the slightest. He adjusted his hold on Haruhi, who was still shivering in fright, and glanced over at his best friend. Tamaki stood in the doorway, his mouth opened and shut several times, almost like a fish out of water. Kyoya sighed and silently cursed his luck. Before he could do or say anything, Tamaki came out of his stupor and started ranting.

"YOU BASTARD! How dare you seduce my poor innocent daughter!" Tamaki's voice started to rise in pitch, and Kyoya knew he had to put his foot down or the blonde would wake the rest of the guys, and he really did not want to deal with the twins tonight. He tried his best Shadow King glare, but as usual it didn't intimidate Tamaki; at least not as much as it did the twins. Tamaki did lower his voice, but he kept his protest up until Kyoya had had enough.

Kyoya tightened his grip around Haruhi momentarily, silently telling her that he'd be right back. Then he rolled off the bed, reached for the sunburn cream that he'd placed on the nightstand when he came into the room, and slammed the bottle against Tamaki's chest with just enough force to make the blonde inhale sharply. With Tamaki's attention now on his aching chest, Kyoya forcefully grabbed him by the elbow and opened the door.

To his surprise Nekozawa was just outside. He was wearing his traditional black robes and held two small unlit, candelabras in his left hand and his right hand was raised as if he had been getting ready to knock. Nekozawa handed Kyoya one of the candelabras and dug into his robes. Finding a lighter, Nekozawa lit the candles on both candelabras as he asked about Haruhi.

"Ootori-san, I have not seen your friend Fujioka-san tonight, is she okay?" The concern in his voice was clear and he pocketed the lighter as he looked at his two kouhais. Tamaki was holding a bottle of sunburn cream and frowning at Kyoya who looked mildly annoyed at his friend.

Kyoya shook his head as thunder reverberated throughout the house. "She was sick earlier; she's resting in my room at the moment." An evil thought crossed his mind, and he hid a smirk as he continued, "Senpai, could you please escort Tamaki to his room, and then come back and speak with me? I have a request to make of you."

Umehito nodded and raised his candelabra to Tamaki's now frightened face. "Come Suoh-san, I will make sure you get to your room safely."

Tamaki started backing away, followed closely by Nekozawa. Kyoya sighed and turned to go back into his room. As he did so, there was another loud crack of thunder, and a bright flash of lightning. All the lights in the corridor, and the outside house lights went out. Kyoya heard Tamaki's brief screech of terror, and a delighted laugh from Nekozawa, but he was more concerned by the soft whimpers coming from within his room.

He strode back over to the bed and put the candelabra on the table. Kyoya gently picked up the girl cowering under the covers and sat down on the side of the bed, cradling her in his arms. He tried to make soothing noises, but the intensity of the storm outside was making it difficult to be heard. Nekozawa came back and knocked on the door. When Kyoya bade him to enter, the senpai peeked around the door and slowly approached them.

"You wanted to ask me something, Ootori-san?"

Kyoya nodded not knowing if Umehito could see him or not with the candlelight. "Haruhi's scared of thunderstorms. I need something to help muffle the sound. Do you have anything, or anyplace, in your estate that I can take her, so that she can't hear the storm?"

Haruhi whimpered again and Kyoya ran a soothing hand over her head. Nekozawa said nothing, but in the flickering candlelight, Kyoya thought he could see compassion and understanding cross his features.

"I might have something that will help her fears, Ootori-san. I will be right back."

Nekozawa softly closed the door again and went down the hall. He passed the room that Honey and Mori were in, and went to his own suite. He picked up a pair of noise-reducing earphones, and then went into the room that his younger sister used on the rare occasions that she stayed there. He entered the bathroom, searched the medicine cabinet until he found what he was looking for, then left the room and started back down the hallway. On his way back to Kyoya's room, he saw Honey and Mori conversing quietly, and asked them if there was anything he could help with.

"Haru-chan's not in her room yet. Takashi and I are getting worried about her."

Nekozawa could sense more than see Mori's affirmative nod.

"She is in Ootori-san's room. I am taking her some earphones so that she won't be as scared of the storm. You may come with me, if you wish."

Honey and Mori exchanged silent glances and nodded. They quietly followed Nekozawa back to Kyoya's room and waited patiently for Kyoya to respond to the knock on the door. The storm's fury nullified the sound of their knocking and Nekozawa opened the door. In the dim candlelight, he could see Haruhi was protectively cradled against Kyoya's chest. The Shadow King carefully laid her on the bed, then turned to face his senpai.

Nekozawa entered first, bowed and handed Kyoya a bag and the earphones he'd found.

"I don't have anything else, but sometimes my sister would put a cotton ball in her ears to muffle loud noises. If those won't work, the earphones should do the trick. The music room in the east wing is under restoration, or I would have you take her there, because it is sound-proofed."

Before Kyoya could thank him, Honey spoke up.

"Haru-chan can have Usa-chan tonight, if you think he could help her." As Honey moved towards the bed, he missed the glare that Kyoya sent towards Nekozawa, who shrugged in silent apology, and retreated from the room to go back to his suite.

"How is Haruhi?" Mori's softly spoken question made Kyoya look down at the girl. Her eyes were squeezed tightly shut and Kyoya didn't know if she actually knew that the other two were there. Honey placed Usa-chan next to Haruhi and the frightened girl pulled it close to her chest. She burrowed deeper under the covers, and all three boys looked at her with concern.

"She's petrified of storms. I didn't realize we had a storm front moving in, or I'd have made other arrangements for us."

As if it sensed Kyoya's self-condemnation, the storm outside quickened and became louder. Kyoya started to go towards the windows so that he could pull the curtains shut, but the girl beside him made a soft, muffled protest. He picked her up in his arms again and held her close. Mori and Honey said nothing for several moments then Mori walked over to the windows and shut the curtains, blocking the worst of the storm's effects.

"She gave you the necklace," Mori stated as he walked back to the others.

Kyoya nodded, "She gave me the pendant as an early birthday present. Tachibana found a chain to put it on."

Honey patted his hand, "How old were you, Kyo-chan?"

Kyoya took a deep breath, tightened his grip on the girl in his arms, and then told his senpais about his mysterious childhood friend. "The pendant was the last thing she gave me. I remember that she was very sad that day. I think her mother was getting worse and she was crying. When Tachibana took me there later that week, Haruhi and her mother weren't there. They didn't come back at all after that."

"Why doesn't she remember you, Kyo-chan?"

Honey's question made Kyoya frown as he admitted that he wasn't exactly sure about the answer himself.

"From what Tachibana was able to find out, Haruhi suffered a severe breakdown. It caused her to forget our past." The question that she had asked him earlier that night came back to him, "What did you look like as a child Kyoya?"

"She didn't use honorifics," he muttered. The two older boys looked at him in question. "I think that she's starting to remember, but it's spotty and sporadic. When we were talking earlier, she didn't call me senpai, she called me Kyoya."

They watched Haruhi for a few more minutes, then Honey gave an exaggerated yawn and motioned for Mori to pick him up. As Mori did so, Honey yawned again, a real yawn this time and giggled softly as he sat on his cousin's shoulders.

"We can talk about this more tomorrow Kyo-chan. For now, try to get some sleep."

Mori nodded and started to leave the room. At the doorway he turned and glared at Kyoya, "Don't do anything stupid," he said and ducked his head to walk into the hallway. As the door shut behind the cousins, Kyoya looked at the girl who had finally fallen into a deep sleep.

"You have shadows in your eyes, like you hide pain or tears. You're my Shadow King, Kyoya."

That small childish voice ripped through him, and he slowly reached out a hand to trace her eyes.

"What is impeding your remembering me, remembering our friendship? Why can't you trust us, when you used to trust me without question? What happened to you?" He knew that he wouldn't get any answers from the sleeping girl and he sighed in frustration. He laid her against the pillows and padded over to the door, making sure that it was securely locked.

Kyoya sighed and looked at the broken pair of glasses on the table. The fear he had felt when Haruhi had been tossed over the cliff rushed through him. He'd broken the glasses when he'd leaped into the ocean, just a half step behind Tamaki. He'd been terrified when she hadn't immediately responded to their first aid. He laid down on top of the covers and carefully pulled Haruhi into his arms, if nothing else than to reassure himself that she was alive; she was breathing and safe in his arms. Just as he was about to fall asleep, he received a text from Mori that nearly sent his pulse through the roof. He shook his head, sent Mori a reply and tucked the phone under his pillow. Exhaustion overtook him, and he drifted off into an uneasy sleep.


Haruhi woke up slowly and for once she didn't feel as nervous or drained as she normally did after a thunderstorm. Something soft tickled her chin and she smiled when she looked down at the pink bunny rabbit. She didn't know when Honey-senpai had entered her room, but she vaguely remembered him putting the bunny into her arms. The one thing she didn't remember was going back into her room. She started to get up when she felt something tighten around her waist.

"What the hell?" She put her hand over her mouth before she could say anything more. The last thing she needed was the twins or Tamaki-senpai coming into the room. She cautiously peeked over her shoulder and almost fell out of bed when she realized that Kyoya Ootori was the one holding onto her.

"..." the dark-haired boy sighed in his sleep, relaxed his hold on her and turned onto his back. Haruhi inched over to the side of the bed, intent on leaving the room post haste, but another soft sigh from Kyoya made her glance over at the boy. Dark circles were under his eyes, evidence of his sleepless night, and she wondered why he had stayed with her.

"Don't worry Haruhi, I'll protect you." That childish voice pierced through the veil shrouding her mind, and once again she wondered who that imaginary friend was. She could almost envision Kyoya as that child, but even in the few solid memories she did have of him, her friend didn't wear glasses, and Kyoya was almost never without them. She reached out a hand to touch him, but pulled it back when she realized what she was doing.

She stood up and glanced around the room. There was a candelabra sitting on the nightstand, alongside a pair of broken glasses and a necklace. The necklace held a pendant in the shape of a small crown adorned with dark grey stones.

"You have shadows in your eyes, like you hide pain or tears. You're my Shadow King, Kyoya."

As if in response to the childish voice in her head, Kyoya mumbled something she couldn't hear and then he sighed again. Haruhi watched as the beginnings of a tear built up under his eyelashes, and she wondered what kind of dreams or memories could make Kyoya Ootori sad enough to cry.

"What happened?" She was startled when she realized that she had spoken the words out loud. She looked down at the sleeping boy and remembered the warmth she'd felt when she'd woken up. It was a memory of being held in strong arms, and feeling safe and secure. It was a soft voice barely above a whisper, telling her that everything would be okay.

She stared at him for a few more minutes, wondering if she was going crazy. It didn't make sense. Why would he have given up his sleep for her if there was no merit in it? She sighed and looked at the stuffed rabbit in her arms. Usa-chan didn't have any answers for her, but maybe Honey-senpai would. She looked at the clock on the bedside table, the LED readout said 06:30. If that told her anything, it should mean that none of the others would be up yet. She would have time for a shower and change of clothes. She looked for a pen and wrote a quick thank you note to Kyoya, then quietly unlocked the door and left the room. She went down the hallway and was almost to her own room when she saw Tamaki walking towards her.

Haruhi sighed when she saw the look that crossed Tamaki's face. Tamaki shook his finger at her, and she raised an eyebrow in question. The look of indignation was almost more than she could bear, and she had to struggle to keep from giggling at him. She coughed to cover up the giggles, and bowed in apparent submission and apology.

"I'm sorry to have worried you, senpai. I didn't understand why you were so upset with me yesterday until Kyoya-senpai explained it to me. That's what you saw last night. He wasn't being bad. He umm... he was trying to show me why you were concerned."

Tamaki groaned as comprehension started to sink in, "Then, you and he didn't...there wasn't any?"

"Any what senpai? There is no merit for Kyoya-senpai sleeping with me. Even you should know that." The fact that she had spent the night sleeping in Kyoya's arms didn't escape her, but her explanation seemed to satisfy the agitated blonde in front of her.

"You are a good girl, Haruhi! Daddy is proud of you!" Tamaki tried to hug her and she ducked under his outstretched arms. He pouted at her and she narrowed her eyes at him. She had been in a decent mood and he was about to spoil it.

"You are NOT my father! Go bug the twins if you don't have anything better to do! I need a shower and change of clothes." She glared at him as he started to retreat into a corner, "Go take a shower senpai! You're still in last night's pajamas." When he still didn't move away from her doorway, she looked over his shoulder and said, "Nekozawa-senpai, I have a rat I need removed from my room."

Tamaki didn't even look behind him as he beat a hasty retreat. Haruhi sighed as she entered her room, and looked into Usa-chan's black button eyes. She gently pulled the rabbit's ears and sat down in a chair, wondering what actually had happened last night. She remembered the beach incident and then coming upstairs to change clothes. She had been exasperated with her father, since he'd taken all her host clothing out and replaced it with girlish dresses. She'd just finished putting on the least revealing one, when Mori-senpai had knocked and asked her to join them for supper. The resulting conversation buzzed through her mind: Tamaki had left in a royal huff after the argument, and then she'd run from the table, nearly incapacitating poor Nekozawa-senpai in the process by turning on a light of all things. She had dashed into the nearest bathroom and thrown up.

She smiled as she thought about the resulting conversation she'd had with Kyoya-senpai. He really was a nice person, even if he didn't show it that often. Then the thunderstorm had hit and all she remembered was being terrified. Well, she had been for about a minute, but then she thought remembered being held in a warm embrace, a soothing hand running up and down her back. She rubbed the bunny's nose. For the first time in over ten years, she'd woken from a thunderstorm, and instead of being wrung out from the fear and trepidation, she'd felt warm, safe and secure.

"I don't know what to think Usa-chan. My mind is playing tricks on me. It has to be; there is no way that I would remember playing with Kyoya-senpai. For one thing he's too rich, and for another why would he have wanted to? He could have anything he wants, all he has to do is ask for it. Just between us, it's why I hate them. They can have anything they want and all they have to do is pout. They don't know the meaning of work, or struggling to survive. How could they? They get everything handed to them on a silver platter." She gave another soft tug on the rabbit's soft ears.

The pink rabbit said nothing as it sat in the chair and watched her go into the bathroom. When she came out ten minutes later, she was clad in a pair of capris and a cotton long-sleeved shirt, with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows.

"I think I need to thank Nekozawa-senpai too. He's the only one who would have given me these."

She picked up Usa-chan and walked to the dining hall. No one was there, but then again, Kyoya and Honey were the late sleepers of the bunch. Tamaki might have gone back to sleep after waiting up for her all night. She just wasn't sure about Mori and the twins.


Kyoya waited until Haruhi had left the room to open his eyes. He had thought she might be mad at him when he'd heard her startled exclamation, but she had seemed more puzzled than angry. He didn't know for certain, but maybe she had been confused about waking up in his arms. He tried to recall his conversations with Ranka, but none of them seemed to indicate why she was so scared of thunderstorms.

A soft knocking told him that his best friend was at the door. He closed his eyes and hoped that Tamaki would get the hint when he didn't respond. Naturally, the blonde opened the door and poked his head inside.

"Kyoya, are you awake?"

"No, I'm sleeping, what do you want?" He purposely kept his voice low, almost at a growl, a warning to leave him alone. As usual the blond ignored him and sat down on the bed.

"I'm sorry, Kyoya."

"You should be. Now go away, I'm sleeping." He gave Tamaki a push that dropped the other onto the floor.

"Why did you let her stay here? She said that you were just explaining things to her. That is all that happened, right?"

"Tamaki, there is no merit in sleeping with her." He tried to turn onto his side, and pulled on his blanket, but the blanket was pinned under Tamaki's hand.

"So why did she return to her room so late?"

What? Did the idiot park outside her room last night?

"Did you ask her?"

"She said that you had to explain things to her. And she apologized for her behavior yesterday."

Kyoya placed an arm over his eyes so that Tamaki couldn't see his growing exasperation. "That's right. I had to explain to her, in terms that she could understand, that she is still a female and therefore she needs to depend on us more."

"Okay, but that is all that happened, right?"

Kyoya sighed and lowered his arm, then looked his best friend in the eye. "We talked for a bit. Apparently, she was sick just after you and I went to our rooms. She had just come out of the bathroom and I was trying to make her understand why we were all so worried about her, when you came in. Nothing else happened."

"Oh, okay."

"Will you please leave now? I need to get some sleep so I can figure out how to recoup our losses from yesterday's mishap."

"Are you sure nothing happened?"

Kyoya sighed and tried to rein in his temper. His sleepless night, including the text message from Mori-senpai, was beginning to wear on him, and the endless questions were rapidly adding fuel to the fire. "Tamaki, you are not her father, her brother or her lover. Nothing happened between us. If you doubt me, ask Honey-senpai and Mori-senpai. Do you really think that they would let ANY of us hurt her? No, they wouldn't, and none of us would survive if anyone did hurt her, because Ranka, Haruhi's real father, would kill us! Now please leave so I can get some sleep!"

Tamaki made no immediate move to leave and Kyoya reached under his pillow for his cellphone. "Hello, Nekozawa-senpai, could you come to my room? Why? Because I need some pesticide."

A high pitched "Eep!" and the rapidly retreating footsteps made him grin mirthlessly at the blank screen on his phone. Kyoya waited a few more moments to make certain that Tamaki was gone before he finally gave up the effort of sleeping and rolled out of bed. He called Nekozawa on the landline and asked him if the senpai had a gymnasium that he could workout in.


Takashi Morinozuka sighed as he ended his phone call. He and Mitsukuni had talked for another hour after leaving Kyoya's room. Mitsukuni finally fell asleep, but Takashi couldn't. He wanted to know what had happened on the beach and why. It didn't make sense that the day they were supposed to arrive, all of Nekozawa's security staff had quit. Something didn't add up and he was determined to find out what it was. It was rare enough that Umehito worked up the courage to ask anyone to visit, unless he was soliciting business for the Black Magic Club. But Umehito had been as shocked, if not more so, at the lack of staffing; or to put it more precisely, at the lack of security. The butler, Kadomatsu, and two maids would have been sufficient enough to run the household since the family wasn't actually planning on being there until school let out for the summer.

Takashi inhaled as the reality sunk in. Someone was actually targeting Umehito or his sister, and that made Takashi's blood run cold. If the host club hadn't come out, then Nekozawa could have been alone this weekend, and that could have led to something even more serious than Haruhi being thrown off the cliff.

Takeshi knew from past experience that if he waited too long something bad would happen. He sighed and looked at the clock. It was still too early to talk to anyone, and Kadomatsu would be by Nekozawa's side, but there were others he could reach out to, including Kyoya Ootori. Mori sighed and glanced at his sleeping cousin. He wouldn't waken Mitsukuni for something like this, even though his cousin would reprimand him later for not doing so.

He didn't relish calling Kyoya either, but he knew that Kyoya wouldn't be as forgiving as Mitsukuni if he didn't keep him informed. Mori reached for his cell phone and texted Kyoya with his findings. Kyoya sent him an immediate text back saying that he'd contact his private police force as well as Tachibana, Aijima and Hotta. Mori set his cell phone's alarm for 08:00 am. He knew that Mitsukuni wouldn't be up by then, but hopefully Nekozawa would be, and he could let him know what he had discovered.


Umehito watched silently as Kyoya ran. He'd been watching him ever since the younger man had asked where the gym was. Umehito knew that Kyoya wasn't the martial artist that Haninozuka was, or even as athletic as Morinozuka, but he also knew that when Kyoya was troubled he would run. He'd seen him run the track several times during their acquaintance, not that he would acknowledge that fact to anyone.

Kyoya was an Ootori, and Umehito knew all too well what it was like to be part of a powerful family. His own family tolerated his little idiosyncrasies, but he didn't think that Kyoya's family was quite as understanding. It crossed his mind every now and then, that of all the host club members, Kyoya was the one that he knew the least, and liked the most. He was an enigma to Umehito, quiet and calculating, but he could be kind when it suited him.

He had actually been surprised when Kyoya had accepted his invitation to come to the beach house. Normally the Shadow King ignored him, or pretended to, but Umehito knew that something or someone was on Kyoya's mind. It hadn't taken him long to figure out that the person was Haruhi Fujioka. The honor student was obviously someone special to Kyoya, but it wasn't until he'd heard what had happened on the beach, that he'd figured out why Kyoya was so concerned.

"Nekozawa-senpai, what have you found out?" Kyoya grabbed a towel and wiped the sweat off his brow, as he waited for Umehito to answer.

"I apologize Ootori-san. It seems that most of our staff quit the day before yesterday, and the head butler didn't have time to find replacements before we arrived. It does sound as if someone wanted to disrupt your time here though." Umehito was upset about this. How could he take care of his little sister if he couldn't care for his friends?

Kyoya sighed and stated, "I called Tachibana and he's bringing some of my private security force with him. Between all of us, I'm sure that we can repopulate your force. By the way, you didn't happen to see Tamaki on your way in here, did you?"

Umehito shook his head, "Unfortunately not. We have renovations going on in the east wing, and I've been consulting with the main contractor about the specifications that we want done. I haven't seen Suoh-san since he left your room last night."

He offered Kyoya a bottle of water. The younger man took the drink and nodded his thanks. Umehito could tell by the way Kyoya was sipping at the water that something was on his mind. "I can listen if you want to talk, Ootori-san. I ...I ...again, I'm sorry that something like this happened."

Umehito turned to leave, but Kyoya put a hand on his arm. "I do not blame you, not entirely. You were at school with us; someone could have called and told you about the situation, and they did not. Those are the ones to blame, and those are the ones who will have to deal with Honey-senpai and Mori-senpai."

Umehito gulped as he imagined what his classmates could do to his staff. He hardened his thoughts as he imagined what could have happened if it had been Kirimi, not Haruhi, who had been thrown off the cliff. His eyes narrowed and he swiftly turned and left the room. Yes, it was time to find out just why he had been left with a skeleton crew, and no one to depend on but his friends.


Lunchtime for Haruhi usually meant dodging the twins as they zeroed in on her bento. She wasn't sure what would be on the menu for the day, and wandered into the kitchen to see if she could help the staff prepare lunch for the host club and Nekozawa-senpai. To her surprise, no one was in the kitchen and she looked out the windows wondering where everyone had gone.

Nekozawa's butler, Kadomatsu, was in the front yard speaking to the maid, Kuretake, as well as a few others that she thought she remembered seeing from Kyoya-senpai's security force. Haruhi nodded her head as she opened the refrigerator and started pulling out supplies to make a simple, yet nourishing lunch. Kuretake came in while she was making preparations and was surprised to see Haruhi standing in front of the stove.

"You should not be here, miss."

"Kuretake, you have enough to do, let me help with a meal. You need to get the rooms tidied up before the guys come back from whatever they are out doing. I can handle this aspect if you want to do that real quick. I can talk to Nekozawa-senpai, so that you won't be in any trouble."

Kuretake pursed her lips, then nodded her head and left to finish the few rooms that needed cleaning, including the jishuushitsu. She didn't know why Master Nekozawa needed the private study room opened up, he usually studied alone in his room, but figured that it must be due their guests and one guest in particular. She tidied the room and set off down the hallway. On her way to their guests' rooms, she smiled at Haninozuka when he ran out of his room and down the staircase, to join the others outside.

Tamaki waited until Honey joined them, then had them all follow him down to the beach. Once they were away from the house he looked at Kyoya who nodded as he took out a new pair of glasses. Kyoya sighed as he opened up his notebook and glanced around the small group.

"We might have an issue here. Mori-senpai sent me a text message this morning regarding the situation on the beach. I've already called in my private police force, as well as Tachibana, Aijima, and Hotta. They will be on patrol for the duration of our stay."

The others look at Mori who explained why they had called in the reinforcements.

"Takeshi, you should have woken me up. I would have helped you figure this out." Honey's soft reproach was met with a smile.

"I know Mitsukuni, but it was too early for any of us to anything. I knew that Kyoya would still be up, or not quite asleep, and he does have the resources that we will need."

Kyoya nodded in agreement, but before he could say anything more, Tamaki stepped in and said in a dramatic voice, "Men, this is something that we as the Host Club must look into. Our clients, friends and acquaintances could have been seriously hurt! We must take a stand and find out who is behind this diabolical plot!"

He slapped his fist against his palm for added emphasis. Hikaru and Kaoru gave him smart salutes, Mori said nothing, while Honey cheered. Kyoya's cell phone rang and he walked off from the group. He came back a few moments later.

"Aijima and Hotta have started the investigation. Nekozawa will be absent most of the day due to the restoration work in the east wing. Oh, and Honey-senpai, Haruhi said that she found Usa-chan waiting for his lunch in the dining room."

The others looked at Honey who smiled sweetly, and zoomed off in the direction of the dining room and his beloved Usa-chan.

"Wow, we didn't notice that Honey-senpai didn't have Usa-chan." Hikaru said. Kaoru frowned as he nodded in agreement, wondering vaguely why would Usa-chan have been in the dining room? How would Haruhi have known to look for him? The more logical of the twins shrugged his shoulders as he smacked his brother.

"Hey, this means that we get to sit next to Haruhi for lunch today!" Kaoru exclaimed and ran off towards the dining room, with Hikaru in hot pursuit and Tamaki screaming at the twins to leave his beloved daughter alone.

Once the others had gone, Kyoya looked up at Mori and sighed. "It will be okay, Mori-senpai. Tachibana and the others are quite good at this you know."

"It worries me that Nekozawa could have been here alone, and no one would have questioned his absence."

Kyoya gave a smile, "I know, but we are here now, and Nekozawa's staff has been alerted as well. Between all of us, there will be answers found, and someone will be made to pay." He started to walk after the others, then turned and said, "Would you and Honey-senpai be available later this afternoon or evening? I made arrangements with Ranka, and had Tachibana stop by Haruhi's house, so that she can study while we are here."

Mori nodded silently and the two walked in companionable silence to the house. Inside the usual chaos was reigning. Tamaki was bemoaning the fact that the twins were seated on either side of Haruhi, who was doing her best to ignore all three of them. Honey had rescued Usa-chan from the evil clutches of the dining room chair and was eating a slice of strawberry shortcake, pretending to feed Usa-chan at the same time.

Kyoya and Mori sat down, and Kuretake placed their lunch in front of them. Kyoya hid a smile at the simple meal. He knew immediately that Haruhi had made the meal, and picked up his chopsticks to begin eating.

"It's really good, Takeshi. Haru-chan is very talented in the kitchen." Honey's statement is met with nods from Tamaki, Kaoru and Hikaru.

Mori said nothing as he sat down and ate his food. Honey could tell that his cousin was preoccupied with the events from the previous day and looked around the table. The other guys were, with the exception of Kyoya and Takeshi, enthusiastically shoveling food into their mouths. Honey sighed as he knew part of the reason the two dark-haired boys were so preoccupied.

"Hey, Tono, what's our plan for this afternoon?" Kaoru's question brought everyone's attention back to their king.

"Well, men, we need to pool our resources and help our host with his problem. I know that Kyoya already has his workforce here, but we should do something too."

"Like what?" Hikaru's question was met with a brief silence then, as if a light bulb flashed over his head, Tamaki smiled in triumph.

"We shall go to town and shop like commoners! As Haruhi is a commoner, she will know all the best places to shop at."

Kyoya raised an eyebrow at the statement, but Haruhi beat him to a reply.

"We can't do that, senpai. We still have clients that we need to look after. And shopping wouldn't resolve the problem of what happened yesterday. Nekozawa-senpai doesn't know why his staff just quit on him, that's what we need to find out."

Kyoya cleared his throat, "Actually, I have a project that Haruhi will be helping me with. Tamaki, you can take Hikaru and Kaoru into town. That is a good idea; ask questions and see if anyone will enlighten us as to why Nekozawa-senpai's staff left, especially on such short notice. I will need to have Mori-senpai and Honey-senpai lend a hand to Tachibana for the time being. I'm sure you two won't mind helping here, will you?"

Tamaki and Hikaru high-fived each other, but Kaoru pursed his lips. Something was going on, and the youngest Hitachiin twin wanted to know what it was. While part of him agreed with the logic of having Mori and Honey stay behind to help with the security force, another part told him that their Shadow King was hiding some vital information and he wanted to know what it was.

Hikaru looked at his twin as they followed Tamaki out to the limousine. "What's wrong, Kaoru?"

"That's what I want to know," Kaoru replied. "Can you go with Tono? I have a feeling that more is going on here than Kyoya-senpai is telling us, but I don't want to alert them to our presence."

Hikaru gave a slow nod, "Yeah, sure, I'll tell Tono that you have a headache. Did you want to just cancel the whole trip? I can stay behind too."

"No, we need to make them think that we're all gone, not just milord." Kaoru smiled at his twin, and they walked up to Tamaki, who was waiting impatiently by the car.

"Hey boss, Kaoru's not feeling too good, might have been too much sun yesterday. I think he needs to go lie down for a bit."

Tamaki looked at Kaoru, who was drooped over Hikaru's shoulder, and asked, "Are you going to be okay, Kaoru? We can delay the trip, make it a club event."

Kaoru shook his head, "I'll be fine, milord, just need to lie down for a while and if we delay going into town, then our guests will be missing out on our event tomorrow, right? Once I get to feeling better, I can call mother about the costumes we'll need for tomorrow's cosplay. Hikaru can text me the information, and we'll be ready to go in the morning."

Tamaki gave Hikaru a questioning look. The older twin smiled and nodded in agreement. "Kaoru's right. We need to solve a mystery and while we're doing it, we can discuss tomorrow's event."

Tamaki nodded slowly, then pumped his fist into the air, "Very well! Hikaru shall come with me to investigate and Kaoru, you stay here and get better."

Both twins saluted, then Hikaru joined Tamaki in the car, while Kaoru turned to go back into the Nekozawa beach house. He spotted Tachibana carrying a familiar book bag, and shook his head as he realized just what was going on. The Shadow King knew that Haruhi would stress out over not being able to study all weekend. This arrangement of splitting the group in two, finally made sense.

"You okay, Kao-chan?" Honey had walked up so silently that Kaoru jumped when the older boy spoke.

"I guess so. Honey-senpai, why didn't Kyoya just tell us that Haruhi needed time to study?"

Honey smiled at him, "Tama-chan wouldn't be still long enough if we did that. Haru-chan needed at least an hour of study time and even though this isn't what we had planned to do for her, we can still give her that time she needs."

Kaoru thought about that as he climbed the stairway to the room he shared with Hikaru. He could see the validity in Honey's statement. Tamaki did tend to be a bit overbearing when it came to matters concerning Haruhi. From declaring himself her father, to being madly in love with her, the club's king would have made it difficult for the female host to get any studying done this weekend.

He sent a text to Hikaru. The older twin raised a brief eyebrow at his brother's wording but shrugged his shoulders and told Tamaki that Kaoru was going to take a brief nap while they were gone.

"Are you sure he'll be okay?" Tamaki's worry was palpable and Hikaru patted him on the shoulder.

"Kaoru didn't sleep well last night. He was worried about Haruhi, because she'd gotten sick after dinner." Hikaru didn't add that both twins had gone searching for the female host, and been shocked and surprised, when Nekozawa had informed them that she'd gone into Kyoya's room.

"Kyoya said nothing happened. He just talked to her about making sure to contact us before she does anything that might endanger herself from now on."

HIkaru raised an eyebrow at the slightly jealous tone in his leader's voice.

"Why didn't she come to us, Hikaru? We are her friends, aren't we?"

Hikaru motioned for Tamaki to follow him into a small cafe. Once they were seated and had ordered their drinks, Hikaru looked his leader in the eye. Confusion still reigned in those bluish-purple orbs and Hikaru sighed as he prepared himself for an explanation that even he wasn't too sure about.

"Think of it this way, boss. Up until the day she walked into that music room, who is the one person that Haruhi could rely on for help? In a word, no one. Her dad works all night and sleeps all day. She could only depend on herself, and she's having trouble believing that we can and would be willing to help her if she would just ask for it."

Tamaki thought about that, and then when the waitress came over to their table, smiled his host club smile at her who wilted on the spot. The waitress recovered quickly enough and asked the boys if she could get them anything else. Hikaru flashed her a devastating grin and the waitress blushed.

"You don't happen to know our senpai, Umehito Nekozawa? We were going to stay there this weekend, and he said that some of his staff had quit. We just wondered if he'd done anything to make them mad at him?" Hikaru kept his voice low, yet loud enough for the waitress to hear him.

The waitress looked confused for a moment, then shook her head. "I'm not sure what you mean? Master Umehito came home for the weekend? But, we were told that the house would be vacant until further notice. The construction workers would be the only ones needed at the house, until all the renovations were completed. Oh, my, you mean that no one was there and you had to fend for yourselves?"

Hikaru stared at Tamaki, who immediately went full host mode. "It's alright. You couldn't have possibly known that we were coming. It was a last minute decision after all. Don't worry, Nekozawa-senpai isn't mad, he is concerned though. He didn't know that no one would be there. Although we did have to wonder, why didn't anyone call him?"

Sachi bit her lip, "We were told that it was per Master's orders. None of us would have left if we had known you were coming! I'll contact the others, please let Master know that we'll be back tonight. We do have to finish out our work here this afternoon."

Tamaki and Hikaru waited until Sachi left to stand up and head outside. Hikaru hailed their ride and once they were inside stated, "Tono, someone is lying, and I don't think it was that waitress."

"Mmm, she was too shocked by what we told her. Let's go back and talk to Nekozawa, something fishy is definitely going on here."