Tuesday 2nd May 2014, 07:19
Suoh Family Mansion
It all happened so fast. The Henkō's scream pierced the air, and immediately was echoed by it's fellows outside. Those of us sitting leapt to our feet, and watched - horror-struck - as we saw the ambling bodies outside turning and sprinting toward the manor. We cried out in fear, scrambling for the door just in time; the enormous window shattered as the creatures hurled themselves into it like crazed animals, snarling viciously. As we slammed the door shut behind us, Kyoya and Tamaki throwing chairs down to bar them from opening, we could hear the bangs of bodies hitting into the solid wood.
Quivering with fear, we turned to see what had once been Satoshi on the ground. Now motionless, his head had been split by immeasurable force, a pool of blood tracing its way to the glistening shoe of Akira Morinozuka. There was a horror behind his eyes such as I had never seen before; he connected eyes with me a moment, then turned his back on us all. My heart skipped a beat to imagine what it must be like to kill your own son, even as a mercy.
"What do we do now?" Yasuchika asked tremulously, his voice cracking. The adults exchanged glances, unsure of what to say. Yuzuru Suoh limped toward us, his teeth gritted against the pain; Tamaki hurried forward as though to help him, but the man seized firm hold of his only son's shoulders.
"Father -"
"You listen to me, Tamaki," Yuzuru interrupted, his tone hushed. "You take your friends and you get out of here - get away, get far, far way, and - "
"But - "
"I don't want to hear a single but," his father warned, and his eyes set deep into Tamaki's. There was deathly seriousness within them now, usually so jaunty and relaxed. "We don't have time for any kind of goodbyes, you just need to go. Do you understand me?"
"Fath-" Another, more violent slam against the door caused the chairs to shift, and Yuzuru tightened his hold of Tamaki.
"Do you understand me!?"
Tamaki nodded, setting his jaw and blinking quickly - I could see how much he was trying not to cry. Yuzuru hugged him tightly, and all too soon he had let go.
"Come on," Tamaki said hoarsely, his red eyes set on us. I nodded in assent, taking hold of Honey's hand and hurried over to them; the others followed, and we all threw on coats from the stand before the front door. The adults watched us, steadfast in their refusal to cry as their children prepared to leave them.
"Can't we at least say goodb-"
"We can't, Kaoru," Hikaru said, gripping his brother's arm. Kaoru looked from him to his mother, who shook her head. "We have to go."
"But we'll see you again - I know we will!" the older twin said, and Mrs Hitatchiin smiled.
"Of course we will, darling," she whispered, ignoring the tear that dropped from her eye to the floor.
"We all will," Yoshio added, and Kyoya looked at him. Their eyes met. "Take care of them, son."
"I - I will," the bespectacled boy tried to answer coolly, helping my arms through the lavish fur coat he had found for me.
"I love you, Kyoya. I wish I'd told you more."
"Father - "
The door burst open, the chairs flying aside. We screamed as the Henkōs swarmed forward, the adults scattering to arm themselves with chairs and umbrellas. Kyoya seized my hand and tugged me down the corridor toward the front door, the others following immediately in our wake. I heard a squealing, like that of an animal crying, and turned my head to see Antoinette - Tamaki's excitable golden retriever - scrabbling at the kitchen door and jumping up and down frantically as her head popped up above the small window.
"Antoinette!" Tamaki cried, immediately breaking away from us to go for her.
"Tamaki, leave her!" Kyoya shouted, but Tamaki would not heed him. He threw open the door and disappeared inside. The moment he did so, a Henkō appeared in the corridor behind us.
"Tamaki!" I screamed, knowing that one of those monsters now separated us from him. I could hear loud crashing from the room he had just entered. A moment later the kitchen door burst open once more, and Antoinette streaked out in a blur of golden fur; she locked her teeth around the Henkō's leg and shook her head from side to side, throwing the creature down. Tamaki followed her, carrying an assortment of enormous carving knives and a rolling pin. "What are - "
"We'll need these!" he shouted across me, driving one into the fallen Henkō's skull. I shrieked in disgust as its purple blood spurted out, though a moment later one had been thrust into my hand. "Now let's go - now!"
The group of us left the mansion and hastened away down the drive toward the front gate, clutching knives like a horde of bandits as we broke away from the once beautiful house. Our feet, most of which were bare, crunching against the gravel propelled us onward, hearts racing and breath catching as the sun rose steadily behind us, Antoinette streaking ahead madly.
"Where are we going to go!?" I heard Honey cry as we neared the gate.
"I think I might know somewhere!" I called.
Tuesday 2nd May 2014, 09:06
Kasanoda Syndicate
"Casanova-kun!" I whispered feverishly through the security system outside the front gate. Henkōs could be heard yowling in the distance, though still too near for any of our liking. "Casanova-kun, it's Haruhi - w-with the Host Club - please let us in!" The microphone crackled.
"Haruhi?" I heard Tetsuya ask tentatively through the audio system, "Haruhi Fujioka?"
"Yes!" I replied quickly, and in an instant the gates began to open. "Thank you, Tetsuya, thank you!" We squeezed our way through before the gates had opened more than a foot, desperate to be safe inside the heavily fortified grounds. After the gates closed behind us, we stared up at the great building looming over us. There was a sense of foreboding that came from the dark wooden structure, though it was our safest possible bet. Taking the lead I paced tentatively up the stone walkway to the heavy red front doors, adorned with deep etchings of martial arts lettering. Before I could knock the door flung open and a shock of red hair streaked out, a pair of wiry arms seizing me like a bear trap.
"Haruhi!" Kasanoda cried, knocking the wind out of me with the sheer force of him throwing himself upon me. A moment later he relinquished me, and I could see so much worry in his deep set brown eyes as he looked at us. He caught sight of Mori, seeing the darkness in his face, and looked once again over all of us. "Where's Morinozuka-senpai's brother?" he asked me in an undertone.
"That's why we're here," I replied, "Please let us in, and we can tell you anything we can." He nodded quickly, ushering us all inside and closing the door fixedly behind us. We were met by a wall of sound.
"WELCOME TO SAFETY, FRIENDS OF THE YOUNG LORD!" shouted each and every member of the syndicate in near perfect unison. I recognised Tetsuya among them by his unusually long dirty blonde hair, rolling his eyes at Kasanoda. He grinned.
"You're sure it's safe?" Kyoya asked, typical of his usual scepticism - though after the events of the last day I was inclined to nod vigorously in support of his question. I'd been forced to flee what I'd believed to be safe three times within a matter of hours, and I was not in the least disposed to do so again.
"Quite safe, my boy," a man piped up proudly, "You'll never find stronger walls, or stronger bonds than here at the - WHAT IS THAT THING DOING IN HERE!?" We all turned, horrified, raising our weapons, expecting to see one of those monsters. But there was nothing there, only the door. I looked back quizzically, my eyes falling upon the wave of syndicate members staring, as horrified as we had just been, at Kasanoda; more specifically, at his lower half. Puzzled, I turned my gaze downward to find Antoinette, her tail thundering eagerly from side to side, her rough tongue licking madly at any part of his large hand she could reach. I don't know how I hadn't noticed her frantic squeals of excitement until then - they were as obnoxiously loud as her master's. Tamaki had taught her well.
"Th-that's Antoinette," I said as I looked from the man who had spoken to Kasanoda, who had hastily withdrawn his hand and was wiping it on his jacket. "She's Tamaki's - "
"DOGS," another man shouted, "ARE FORBIDDEN WITHIN THESE WALLS!"
"Forbidden?" the twins repeated, identical brows furrowed. We all jumped at Tamaki's sudden screech of discontent.
"But - but - "
"The Young Lord is allergic to dogs," Tetsuya said apologetically, and it was true - for Kasanoda had already begun to show signs of an imminent sneeze. Tamaki whimpered, falling to his knees and wrapping his arms tight around the retriever as though the syndicate intended to dispose of her. "I'm sorry, Suoh-kun, but we will have to put - Antoinette, was it? - outside."
"No!" Tamaki wailed, rocking the oblivious dog from side to side - her tongue waggled with the movement, her big brown eyes blinking dumbly. "I won't let you pit my baby against those - those things!"
"Not outside the property, you idiot," Kyoya sighed, removing his glasses and rubbing his weary eyes. "Outside the house." Tamaki blinked as blankly as his dog, then seemed to have twigged the situation.
"Alright…" he pouted, straightening up and taking hold of Antoinette's bright blue collar. "Come on, Antoinette - outside." The retriever waggled her bushy tail as she was led away, quite content when the door closed behind her. Almost instantly we heard her barking, starting to run after the distinct sound of a cat screeching.
Kasanoda sneezed.
"BLESS YOU, YOUND LORD!" a hundred voices intoned.
"Alright, calm down," the redhead muttered, rubbing his nose roughly across his sleeve. Tetsuya caught his eye and, without having to exchange a single word, he began to usher away the other tenants of the syndicate.
"The young lord and his friends are tired - we should give them some peace - no, now is not the time for Kick-the-Can, Busujima-kun - "
"C'mon," Kasanoda intoned to me, inclining his head briefly toward a door down the corridor. He sneezed again, met a second time by a chorus of blessings from the men who had not yet been herded away.
"This way," I said to the others as Kasanoda began to slouch away in his usual gangling manner, his messy ponytail swinging from side to side with each step he took. "Thank you," I mumbled as I ducked through the door he propped open with his foot. The boys followed, and once we were all inside Kasanoda closed the door and stared down at the handle wrapped within his fingers for a number of seconds before turning slowly and looking at us with an expression I hadn't seen before. Now that he was free from the expectation of the syndicates eyes all around, he seemed almost close to tears.
"I'm so glad you guys are safe," he said in a voice quite unlike his own, heavy with relief.
"You too, Casanova-kun," Honey said, his large brown eyes still wide with worry. "Though…" He looked to Mori, whose grey gaze was set fixedly upon the wall directly opposite him. He seemed not to be aware of anything else in the world but that wall, but we all knew he was all too aware of everything. "Not all of us are safe…"
Kasanoda turned his head fractionally toward the despondent third year, understanding almost immediately. His eyes darkened.
"I'm sorry," he intoned, and Mori looked at him. He nodded stiffly, then looked away again. It seemed for a moment that Kasanoda didn't know what to say. Then he opened his mouth once more, his voice quite dry. "What happened, anyway? At the festival, I mean. Everything was so quick… We managed to get out almost immediately, but..." He sighed, sounding suddenly angry, "What happened!?"
"We don't know," the twins answered solemnly.
"The Henkō - " said Hikaru.
"We call them Henkō - " interrupted Kaoru.
"Just got in and went wild - it's simple as that, right?" Hikaru continued, turning his eyes about the group.
"Henkō…" Kasanoda frowned, his narrowed eyes fixed upon his heavy booted feet. "The Changed…" He let out a sigh and rubbed at his intense brown eyes. "So I guess that makes them zombies or something, does it?" Tamaki shifted uncomfortably. Kyoya looked at him briefly, an odd sort of expression on his face. It seemed as though it could be sympathy, though with Kyoya it hardly seemed possible. He caught me looking at him, his gaze instead turning on me, and almost automatically I turned my face away. Kyoya cleared his throat fractionally, adopting a hopeful tone of command - though his voice shook a little, giving away his well hidden fear.
"We prefer not to use the Z-word," he said. Kasanoda nodded in understanding, but it seemed he didn't have anything to say past that point. Nor did any of us. We stood there in silence, exhausted yet too full of adrenaline to give in to aching bodies and brains, not sure whether to look at one another or talk or do anything at all. The silence was more painful that anything. It meant we could hear the distant yowling of Henkō beyond the walls of the syndicate, quiet yet ever-present - a living nightmare. Except they weren't living, were they? I shuddered. Kasanoda, whose eyes had been settled upon me for rather a while, took it to mean I was cold - hardly impossible, considering my filthy bare feet and legs, with only Mrs Hitatchiin's fashionable yet flimsy fur coat to cover my arms.
"Sorry!" he suddenly burst out, and we all jumped. "I haven't even been taking care of you, it's all been talk! Jeez, you guys must be so cold and worn out - Haruhi, you're not even wearing shoes, you must be in so much pain…"
"Just a tad…" I admitted, though my feet had been aching like nothing else.
"And you guys obviously haven't eaten since last night, let alone slept. God, I'm sorry for not taking care of you instantly - no wonder I made such a lousy host!" A few of us smiled weakly, and he seemed heartened. "Right, okay. Right. So - right."
"Left," the twins muttered. Tamaki rapped them sharply about the head.
Kasanoda cleared his throat.
"We'll get you guys a hot bath first - you look freezing, even with those coats on." We nodded eagerly in assent, and he smiled fractionally. "Okay, I'll ask some of the guys to heat up the bath house - you don't mind being in there together, do you? Just that we don't know how much hot water we can spare because of the… uh… well, the whole Henkō thing."
"Yeah, sure," Hikaru shrugged.
"We're all used to it, to be honest," Kaoru added.
"Especially if Haruhi's there," the two of them grinned. The colour in Kasanoda's cheeks rose considerably.
"Oh, s-so you guys really are all that close, aren't you?" he said, trying not to let on his embarrassment. I rolled my eyes at the twins - even at a time like this, they were still so insufferable.
"Don't worry, Casanova-kun," I said, stepping fixedly on the closest twin's foot, "We're really not." He swallowed with some difficulty, nodded mutely, then pulled open the door and disappeared outside. We could hear him calling for people to begin heating up the bath house as he walked away down the corridor, met to the accompanying rumble of what was probably the entire syndicate as they fought to be of the most use.
"So what now?" Yasuchika piped up, and we looked at him.
"What do you mean, Chika-chan?" Honey asked, frowning a little.
"I mean," the younger Haninozuka sighed, "We can't exactly stay here and crouch forever, can we? If hot water is limited, then so is cold water - and food. Plus with such a large syndicate to feed, let alone us, how long do you think we can stay because of their good will?" Nobody answered. None of us really wanted to consider the prospect. "Not very long, is my guess."
*Surprise, bitch
Bet you thought you'd seen the last of me*
