A/N: Once again I apologize for the long wait.. I mean VERY long wait… Like.. almost a year holy crap. Thank you so much for waiting patiently. I hope this will make up for it. My goal is to get this all done before Camp NaNoWriMo. Wish me luck! It shouldn't take too much longer. If I am reading this outline right… there's only a couple of chapters left.
Suliman sat back in her chair, gazing at the clouds that lazily floated along the blue sky. Her lips curving into a wrinkled grin, she found her eyes slowly closing. The days have been getting longer over the years and she was getting more and more tired. She knew soon she would meet the same end as the witch, though she hoped it wasn't nearly as painful as her situation. Her eyes started to flutter with fatigue, but she was jarred awake when she felt a small hand cover her own.
"Madam Suliman?" the young man gave her a concerned look as another presented her with a silver tray with a cellphone laying on top of it, "I apologize for the interrupting but it is time to call them."
"No need to apologize," she reached forward and slowly moved her bony fingers to dial, "The sooner this is done, the better," She waited for the click and smiled when she heard a high pitched, energetic greeting, "Hello, Mine Nakahara, could you please connect me to the others. Yes. It's time."
-X-
Haruhi stood in the dark room that seemed to get more eerie with every visit. This was especially true because of the two skeletons and two anatomical dolls (one with only half a body and one with no head). Usually, she wouldn't care less about things like this, but there were a few times she walked past them and could have sworn she hear voices, oddly enough one or two with a British accent. She was sure that a normal girl would have freaked out about the voices being ghosts or something, but she never saw a ghost so there was really no reason to be scared. Besides, if they were going to kill her and haunt her they would have done it the first night she spent there.
However, that was something else she would no longer have to worry about. She was finally going home and it would be the last day she deals with psycho fan girls, screaming men, and finally wear her own clothes. She glanced down at the discarded black dress on the ground and picked it up to whence she found the nearest wire hanger and hooked it onto the bed. She had to admit that it fit kind of nicely, except of course in the breast area, but other than that it wasn't completely horrible. Though, nothing could ever compare to her own PJ's. She had enough of this place and right now all she wanted to do was go home, drink some tea, and maybe even cuddle up under the kotatsu with a tangerine. More than anything, she just wanted to be back in the comfort of her own home.
Her moment of hopeful bliss was put to an end when there was a tap at the door.
"Coming," she quickly opened the door to see Tamaki leaning against the frame with a sparkling, shimmering smile. Literally, it was as though he hugged a fairy and the dust had rubbed off on him. Now that she thought about it…it would explain why he is so happy all the time.
"Well," He extended his hand toward her and took a step forward, "Are you ready to go, my princess?"
For any normal girl at Ouran, they would have melted into a puddle of mush and squealed in delight. Haruhi, however, was immune to these antics ever since she first met the Host Club. It didn't work then and it sure as hell isn't gonna work now.
"Senpai," she gave a quick agitated groan as her fingertips rubbed her forehead, "There is no one here…well no host club members. Do you really-" her eyes went wide as his finger pointed at Haruhi, and it was a mere inches from poking her on the tip of the nose.
"But of course!" he interrupted and walked into the dark room, not even bothering to look around, "A true host is able to use their charm 24/7, perfecting their craft at every chance possible. In fact, now we can go over the rules of a host, yet again. Rule one of a host.."
Thankfully when he is in monologue mode he tends to close his eyes to enter the delusion he is the center of attention. It was because of this that she was able to sneak out of the room and slip into the hallway. She thought she had a moment of silence, that was until a nervous Ranmaru and Takenaga ran toward her screaming for help.
"I don't want to do it again!" Ranmaru slide across the carpet and grabbed at her legs, hugging them for dear life.
She couldn't keep her balance from the impact and fell forward, her slender hands clinging to the wall, "What the hell is wrong with you?"
Takenaga grabbed at Ranmaru's legs and did his best to try to yank him off, "Don't mind him, he just doesn't want to face his responsibility."
"When has it been my responsibility!" he screamed at the top of his lungs, "I will not wake him up again. Do you know how long it took me to get rid of that bruise mark on my beautiful face!?"
"Well I sure as hell ain't doing it!" He gave another hard yank at the red heads pants legs, but this last pull made Haruhi lose her balance and face down into the red carpet.
"Ow!," she turned on her back and lifted her legs, trying her best kick him away, "Get off me!"
At the sound of her cries, Tamaki instantly ran out of the room and once his eyes laid upon the three, they were a blaze with fury, "Get off my little girl!"
"It's not like that," yelled Ranmaru.
"You say that and yet you are still clinging to my little girl," he grabbed his arms and tried to peel them from Haruhi, but his grip was too tight instead, it was pulling down her pants.
"Senpai, you're not helping!" she desperately grabbed at her pants, kicking even harder than before, "GET. OFF. ME."
"Guys…GUYS!" Takenaga had to yell at the top of her lungs, "Did you hear that?"
The group finally went silent enough to hear a low growl. Tamaki's whole body began to tremble with fear, "I-I know that sound." He looked down the hall and saw a small, familiar figure walking down the hall.
"Oh no," He screech and backed into the closest wall, "Was he taking a nap? Why didn't anyone say anything?"
"That's what I was trying to get Takenaga to do. Aunty called saying she was on the way and he needed to wake up."
"And I told him that there was no way I was going to wake him up again." He shivered at the thought and rubbed his forehead, "I still have nightmares."
Another growl erupted into the halls as the shadow moved forward to reveal the Hypotensive Beast known as Honey.
"Sleepy," his voice was low as he shuffled from one foot to the next, "still…sleepy…"
"H-Honey senpai," Haruhi stuttered, "T-there is no need to be upset, I am sure we can figure something out."
"That won't work," Tamaki whispered, "You and I both know that we have to mention cake or Usa-chan or we don't stand a chance."
"Well think of something," she spat.
"I can't think of anything! That was Mori's specialty… Why don't you!"
"I winged it last time, I didn't even expect it to work…"
"Sleepy…sleepy." The voice grew louder as she walked closer and closer to them.
Takenaga released his leg and moved back as far as he could, screaming as loud as he can, "Someone do something! When he gets close enough I am the first in line here!"
Honey continue to shift from one foot to the next, his eyes glowing with discontent, and he was covered in a purple, evil aura as he got closer.
"Anytime no-" his eyes managed to move past the glowering Mitskuni to see a tall feminine figure walk down the hall, "Aunty! Keep away from him."
She rolled her eyes to ignored him, "What is all this commotion about? We don't have time for all this fooling around, I need to see my darling Sunako."
They were all too petrified with fear to say anything as Honey slowly turned around and growled, "I'm still sleepy."
"You can't sleep all day," she spoke oblivious to his glowering eyes, "And what have I told you boys about keeping this place clean. Why is this rabbit covered in frosting?"
Mitskuni lifted his hands and Haruhi yelled at the top of her lungs, "Get out of the way, hurry!"
Aunty stood and raised and eyebrow, "What?" She glanced to see Honey suddenly smile and grab his pride and joy.
"Usa-chan!" He smiles and wiped the white frosting off his friend, "Silly, you fell asleep eating cake again didn't you?"
All except Aunty, fell onto their back in shock with their feet in the air.
"Y-you've got to be kidding me," Ranmaru sat up and sighed, "I can't believe that was all it took. At least I was able to spare my magnificent face." He gave Aunty a curious look when she covered her mouth and laughed, "W-what?"
"Take a look," she pulled a mirror and he snatched it out his hands.
"My face!" He rubbed his fingers over is black eyes, the brush on his cheek and forehead, "There isn't enough concealer in the world to cover this." he managed to squeeze a tear out of his swollen eyes, "The beaten look can only work for so long. I'm a monster!"
While Aunty was laughing, Harui couldn't help but feel a little guilty, she did kind of kick him a little hard.
"Go cry on your own time. Madam Sullivan is on the line and she needs to make sure that we are ready." Aunty picked up Tamaki, Honey, and Haruhi by the collar of their shirts and tossed them into the dark room.
Honey hugged the rabbit to his chest and glanced around the room, "Wow this room is super neat. Look, there are even jars of fake organs!"
"F-Fake organs?" Tamaki glanced around and went pale white as his eyes finally traveled around to see his surroundings. The manikin, skeleton, piles of banned and X-rated horror DVDs, the huge wall of organs that did not look fake, and skulls. He screeched and hid behind Haruhi, "What kind of commoner enjoys things like this?"
"You were in here before when you talked about those rules of hosting," she rubbed her forehead and groaned, it was at t his point that she didn't even know why she tried anymore.
"I know, I know. My dear Sunako has odd tastes and it took me a while to get used to it. Just stay in there while I finish the call," she waved a nonchalant hand at them and lifted the phone to her ear, "Madam Sullivan?"
"Are you about ready?" the woman's voice was weak and tired over the receiver.
"Yes, but are you okay?"
"I am as fine as I can be at my age," she chuckled, "Now, I am going to ask for your patience. I just learned how to use the call waiting. You'll be on hold for just a moment." She pressed the button and switched over to the other line, "Hello?"
-X-
Sunako sat on the edge of the bed in the dark room and stared at the black carpet beneath her feet. She didn't even bother to look up when she heard a knock on the door, "Yes?"
"Creature of darkness," the door creaked open to reveal Beelzenef peeking his head in and waving, before Nekozawa peeked his head in as well, "The others are waiting in the dark arts room and though I love to see them in terror…" He paused for a moment and chuckled, "You know, I don't know where I was going with that one." He noticed that she wasn't looking up to give her usual sinister grin.
The puppet tugged at his hood and leaned in to whisper in his ear, "Indeed I think you do have a valid point my friend."
He made his way across the room and silently sat beside her. For a moment he waited in darkness for her to say something, but still she sat there staring at the ground.
"Sunako," he tried his best to urge, "You know you can talk to me. Whatever is causing you such plight, tell me and I will make sure to burden them with a curse that will last generations."
"It won't help," She spoke finally, "Do you want me to leave so badly?"
"Of course not!" he abruptly stood to his feet and rub a hand softly against her cheek so that her deep purple eyes could gaze into his shimmering blue eyes, "Sunako, I would love nothing more to have you here, but doing so would have adverse effects."
"I thought your liked chaos!" She slammed her hand on the wall and her eyes shifted from purple to blood red as she cackled, "We could have the world in complete chaos and we could rule all creatures of light to cast them into unending darkness!"
For a moment Nekozawa stood there blinking rapidly, "I love the enthusiasm, surely I do, but this excitement is out of desperation." He received his confirmation when he watched her red eyes slowly fade back to a sad deep purple, "Besides, that would be uncontrolled chaos. You are asking us to control something of that magnitude of a tornado or even a hurricane. Something like that would only create more chaos, even for us. Even I know better than to attempt to play God. There must be equivalence."
"B-but," she used the sleeve of her shirt to wipe the tears cascading down her cheeks, "I don't want to leave. What if I never see you again?"
"That is enough Sunako," his voice was gentle as he moved toward her and wrapped her tight into his embrace, "I will not lose you. No matter what, I will find a way, I promise you that."
Sunako looked up and searched for reassurance in his eyes, "Really?"
"On the cursed souls of Beelzenef and I, you have my word," He smiled and opened the door for her, "Come."
She held tightly to his hand, as she was lead down the halls. She grabbed his fingers tightly as she looked at the candlelit hallway. Sunako paused slightly and tried to pull back when she came to the door to the dark arts room.
Giving a reassuring smile, he gave her hand a gentle squeeze and led her into the room. While the two were a bit dismal, the others were actually very content. Mori sat with a small smile on his lips as Yuki sat perched on his shoulder chatting about the events of the evil witch. While Kyohei sat against the wall carefully tossing and catching the head of a certain manikin.
"Hiroshi!" Sunako ran over, popped him on the top of his head, and snatched the head from his fingers, "how dare you!"
"Son of a… aaaah!" Kyohei rubbed his head and muttered a few bad words underneath is breath, "I was bored!"
"So you do that to my Hiroshi?" she glared and pressed the head to her chest.
As the two fought, Nekozawa glanced around the room, "Mori, where are the others?"
Silently he reached forward and passed a paper to Nekozawa. Beelzenef held the paper as he read it out loud, "We regret to inform you but several of the host members will be unable to attend. Several are still traumatized from recent events, however a camera has been placed on Mori."
"Mm?" Mori put Yuki on the ground and proceeded to frantically search his pockets and his shirt pockets.
"Unknown to Mori of course because we would lose connection at our homes."
Mori then glared slightly and sat back against the wall.
"In case of an emergency," Nekozawa continued to read, "The Ootori Police is at your disposal."
Yuki smiled, "Well I thought he was a heartless bastard but that was pretty nice."
"Underneath," Mori grunted, pointing to the second paper underneath.
He slid the paper from underneath and his eyes went wide, "I must say I am not surprised."
"What is it?" Kyohei was able to stray away from the conversation and snatched the paper, "What the hell? Is this a bill? Holy shit that's a lot of money."
"Actually it's a discount because it has to do with his host members. But I presume this amount is for the use of his Elite Police Force," despite the massive amount zeros he chuckled, "That one was always very strict about his business. I do admit a bit of admiration about that."
"So wait, you have enough to pay for that?" Kyohei looked at the number and quickly shoved the paper back at Nekozawa, "Must be nice to be rich, that damn number made my wallet cry."
The room went silent at the sound of a chuckle.
Yuki instantly ran over and clung to Mori's leg, "W-what was t-that?"
"My apologies," he walked over to the alter and picked up the cellphone, "I was contacted by Madam Suliman and it seems I put it on speaker instead of hold."
The tiny blonde let out a sigh of relief and then a quick chuckle as Mori ruffled his hair.
"Everything is place on the other side. Are you about ready?" she asked.
Nekozawa couldn't help but notice that her voice was getting quieter and weaker by the moment, "Yes, they merely need to stand in the middle of the symbol and we can start," Yuki and Kyohei took that as their cue to move. Nekozawa paused slightly, "Are you quite sure that you are ready for such a task?"
"My dear child, I am more than prepared. The real question is… are you truly prepared for this. You are giving up quite a bit for this."
"There is no other way," he tried to whispered, "I have come to terms with it and I assure you that I am as prepared as I can be."
"Fine get everyone in their positions and I will start."
There was a chanting on the receiver Sunako joined the others in the middle of the add symbol on the floor. It was a mix of pentagons and circles with a language she had never seen before. And as Madam Suliman's voice began the rise the floor began to light up.
"Finally!" Kyohei cheered, "We'll be home."
Sunako could only ignore his words as she kept her gaze on Nekozawa and gasped when she saw a single tear slide down his eye.
I may use the Dark Arts but I am the slave to the law of equivalence. Like everything else in the world…to gain something, something must be given.
She reached out and grabbed his cloak.
"Creature of darkness, you can't hold on to me! It will ruin the incantation!"
Suliman stopped for a moment, "Whatever you are doing over there, finish it quickly. It's taking the spell longer to complete."
"The law of equivalence."
Nekozawa's eyes went wide at her words, "Sunako…"
"What did you give up… what the hell did you sacrifice?"
"Sunako. Now is not the best time and it would be best if you just let that go."
"I won't," her lipped quivered as she held back the tears and her eyes desperately searched his, "What did you give up to do all of this?"
He managed to release her grip on his sleeve and instead grabbed her hand and pulled her slightly closer to him, making his lips pressed against hers. However, this one wasn't like the others, it was hungry and desperate to convey his need for her. When he broke the kiss he let out a deep breath.
"I sacrificed myself." He gave a weak smile and pushed her roughly back onto the symbol, where she was engulfed in light, "I hope that one day you can forgive me."
-X-
Sunako yelled as she suddenly sat up in her bed. She gasped as she looked around her room. Her eyes were frantically searching for something but she didn't know what. Eventually she looked at the time. If she didn't hurry she wouldn't have time to make breakfast for the creatures of light.
She started to move her legs when she suddenly felt something on her legs. Glancing down she saw the head of Hiroshi.
"Hiroshi," she whispered, "Why aren't you connected to your body." She quickly pushed back the sheets to hear something fall to the floor with a hallow 'thunk'. Nakahara decided to ignore the sound and get Hiroshi successfully back to his own body. She smiled when it clicked back and wanted to take a step back to admire the view when she felt something hit the heel of her foot.
She turned and glanced down to see and pick up a magnificent skull, "I've never seen you before," she traced her fingers along the skeletons jaw. With it in her fingers like this, it felt surprisingly familiar, "I've never seen you…so why…" she closed her eyes and pressed it tightly to her chest, "Why does it hurt so much looking at you."
The door slammed open and Kyohei stomped in, "Nakahara! You didn't make breakfast now we have to hur—" his face quickly changed to sympathy and he put his hands in his pockets, "What's wrong Nakahara?"
"Nothing," she whimpered and quickly turned her back to him.
"Nothing, huh?" He turned her around and used the knuckle of his index finger to wipe a tear from her eyes, "then why are you crying?"
"I said I don't know," to her surprised she sobbed and collapsed onto her knees hugging the skull tighter to her chest, "but every time I look at this, I can't seem to stop crying."
-X-
Back at Ouran Academy, classes had just ended and the Host Club members were gathering in the usual music room.
Hikaru and Karou flopped on the nearest couch and released a loud yawn.
Of course this didn't go unnoticed by Haruhi, "Tired?"
"You have no idea," the twins said in unison, "But we have no idea why. We can usually go with less than 3 hours of sleep and do just fine."
Haruhi gasped, "3 hours? What could you two possibly be doing so late at…" When they gave her a mischievous grin she shook her head "Never mind, I really don't need to know."
"Spoilsport," the two stuck their tongue out at her and chuckled.
Karou sighed, "I would come up with a smartass remark but I am too exhausted to try."
"Tell me about it." Said his brother.
Honey walked toward the group with Usa-chan being dragged along the ground, "Me too," he rubbed his eyes and blinked repeatedly, "I've been nodding on and off all day. I think I want to sleep in one class, but something scary must have happened because they all looked terrified."
Haruhi looked away and mumbled, "Gee, I wonder why."
Kyoya adjusted his glasses as he kept his gaze in his little black book, "It could easily be just one of those days. However, strangely enough, there has been several of our regular customers who have also complained about fatigue."
Hikaru raised an eyebrow, "And you care why?"
"Because several of these same customers complained they were too tired to participate and decided not to participate."
"right," Karou nodded, figuring out his hidden objective, "No customers means a decline in sales."
The twins shook their head and gave a weak smile, "That's the vice-president for you."
"Ignoring that," he stated, "Does anyone recall yesterday's events?"
Tamaki walked into the room with eyes half closed, "I know what I did yesterday." He positioned his arms so it looked as though he was doing the waltz with someone, "Haruhi and I were dancing all night long. Daddy was so happy and so proud of his little girl." Suddenly his body just collapsed to the ground, where he snored loudly.
"Well now that the moron is asleep, I repeat my question. Does anyone recall yesterday's events?"
In unison, everyone shook their head in the negative.
"Odd," he grumbled and stared intently at his book.
Haruhi moved a bit closer hoping to catch a peek inside, "Why? Something wrong?"
"Well it would appear that we had guests yesterday that tripled our usual input, but I didn't write own a name. nor did I write any other information to reference back to him or her."
Honey climbed up Mori like a try and gasped, "Wow, that is strange! You are usually so strict about that book."
Mori gave a nod in agreement.
"Yeah," said the twins, "Very weird and totally boring."
All heads turned to the same direction when a large door slowly creaked open.
Kyoya was the first to greet him, "Nekozawa, to what do we owe the honor?"
"Oh, are you gonna curse Tama-chan in his sleep?" Honey asked curiously.
Nekozawa glanced down at his sleeping body, "Tempting, but no." he glanced from face to face, "I just thought that an acquaintance of mine might be here."
"Well no," Haruhi answered, "We are the only ones who came here today, but we can help you find them. What does this acquaintance look like?"
"I uh…I don't know," he mumbled softly.
The twins sat up on the couched and tilted their heads.
"Well what is the name?" asked one.
"Do they go to this school?" asked the other.
He shook his head, "I don't know." The puppet, Beelzenef, dropped his head in despair and Nekozawa did the same thing. As he stood there, a purple aura began to rise around him.
Naturally, the other members grew a bit nervous and took a step back. Except for Tamaki who was still asleep and Kyoya who was too tied up in his book to care. "I apologize for the inconvenience." With that, he moved back into the room and the door slowly closed shut.
"Okay, that was freaky," Haruhi mumbled.
Honey shook his head, "more like terrifying. I have never seen him act that way before."
Kyoya shrugged, "it's really none of our concern," he closed his phone and put it back in his pocket, "Well I called the bank and our records are indeed in order, and since no hosts are coming today, we can pack up early an call it a day."
Haruhi started to follow the others and paused, "what about Tamaki senpai?"
"I already called his home. His maids are coming now to pick him up, so there is no need to worry."
"And Nekozawa senpai?"
"Not much we can do there. I would offer my police force, for a nominal fee of course, but they won't be able to find anything if he can't give them a name or description."
She kept her gaze at his door and could not help but remember the palpable depression in his blue eyes, "I still feel bad for the guy. Whoever he lost, they must have been really important."
