Disclaimer: I don't own Ouran or its characters. This is fan made!
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Kemi was afraid that she wouldn't see her daddy again. It was now the second time in one year that he had collapsed all her mother wanted to do was ignore her family. She remembered watching as her father was placed under a mask and taken away. Her belly was now poking out a bit and her classmates grinned wondering who the father was.
"I heard a rumor that it's Tenko," said one to her at lunch.
The said boy walked up beside her and processed to wrap his long bony arms around her neck for the hundredth time since it was announced.
"SO," he started trying to kiss her on the cheek, "how's my baby's mama doin?"
"Get off me Tenko; you will never see this child's face whatever you do!"
"What? Sorry but did you just say I would never see my baby's face, how rude!"
Tenko grabbed her hand and dragged her away at a quick speed. Then he threw her onto the wall and pressed his body against hers.
"You listen here, Ohtori! My father will have you and Uncle Kaoru separated if you even dare try that ever again," he snared over her.
Kemi's eyes widen frightened that he had figured her out so well. Yes, the child was still in question that it was Tenko's but she had lied to her father once.
"Was it Tenko?
"I think."
"You've lied to everyone just like your mother!" then he walked away from her, his own fists clenched.
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Tenko wanted to kick the crap out of his dad from making his life a living hell with the stupid lie that Kemi was pregnant with not his kid. It was not that he didn't like her but when he went to visit Uncle Kaoru; he saw the worse sight a young man would ever see.
He walked into the condo and went to Uncle Kaoru's room and he heard something. It was not the usual rock sound of his music playing or the sound of him playing his instruments from classes in collage. It was the sound of a girl under him that sorta scared him. Peeping into the room, he accidently stepped on a crack on the floor causing the two to look back. He saw to his utter shock that the girl below Uncle Kaoru's arm was the girl he had longed for many years.
"Kemi?!"
"Tenko get out!" they both shouted at him. He ran from the room and didn't stop till he was far away from the place.
"Tenko we need to talk" was what Uncle Kaoru wanted of him of recent. He hated the man for everything he stood for. He hated everything that was about Kemi, he hated everything that dealt with the Ohtori family. He hated that her father was ignoring everything in his family.
And he was tried of living this lie.
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Two weeks later
"Mom?" a familiar voice asked from the door.
Haruhi sighed and considered beating her head against the desk in protest. Would she never be allowed to work in peace and quiet? First it was the debacle at breakfast with Spike telling about his rank for the next year at Ouran when she came to get him for a conference with Tamaki's long discussion on Kyouya. That had been unique. Then it was the stream of former (and aged) third years searching for Nekozawa (Belzenef was missing). After that it had been suppertime. Tamaki had come to visit for a bit and Haruhi had realized she'd wasted the entire day in ludicrous, nonproductive, and time consuming pursuits. She become well used to less than five hours sleep per night which included Kemi's cries late in the nights.
"Uh, Mom?" the voice said again, this time more nervous than before and considerably closer.
Looking up, Haruhi found Kemi standing at her elbow, peering at her over the rim of her glasses, her expression riddled with fear. Her arm was half extended, as if frozen on the verge of touching her own mother. Haruhi felt herself becoming angry, resentful at the fear of rejection being so clearly displayed from Kemi. It attacked her, making pleading demands on her and Kemi's friendship when she was the one who felt rejected. She was the one who deserved the chance to plead. To cry, really.
But Haruhi had cried her fill already.
Haruhi brushed her hair out of her eyes and blinked away the moisture building there. She'd been tired from the meeting and her paperwork, and it was almost that time of the month, and really, she should have had much better control of herself now. She did but refused to acknowledge it.
"Yes, Kemi?" Haruhi asked, her fingers tightening slightly around her pen. Kemi locked eyes with Haruhi.
"Can we talk?" she asked.
Haruhi put down her pen and put away the papers, it could wait for the time. The paper was smooth against her skin, a reminder of other responsibilities and obligations; yet she was here now, and they had much to talk about. Haruhi nodded, keeping her eyes fixed to her daughters.
"Yes, but – " Haruhi paused, "Have you talked to Mori yet? Because I think he has some things to say to you too."
Kemi flinched and scowled, her skin darkening in frustration. "I tried to, but he just told me we had nothing to talk about and that he would remain to you no matter what I did to stop it."
Haruhi winced.
"And he then said that Dad couldn't be any worse than any other male," Kemi finished with a sad, wry grin.
Haruhi lifted an eyebrow and tried not to cry. "He didn't say anything else about your father?"
Kemi shook her head and grimaced, covering her obvious confusion. "Only that Dad is dead if he wants your marriage to continue. Did he tell you anything?"
Haruhi sighed and rubbed the palm of her hand into her eyes. "Yes, but I'm not sure I should tell you. Not if Mori didn't think it necessary."
Kemi sat herself on the floor and looked up at Haruhi, her eyes huge and luminous in the light. She (Kemi) seemed like a fallen angel sitting there, eaten up by guilt and fear and every sordid encounter she'd had with Mori – and yet both knew he would repeat them, repeat them.
Kemi reached out her hand and held it, shaking, over her mother's hand. It hung there less steady than a leaf in the wind and then dropped, fragile, onto hers. Kemi rested her fingers on Haruhi's, creating a loose web that Haruhi could break at any moment, much like the current friendship that they held now.
Don't touch me, thought Haruhi, thinking of how Kemi's hands were so much like Kyouya's. Instead, she smiled slightly and pressed her hand closer to hers. Sniffing a bit, Haruhi rubbed her eyes into her shoulder, wiping them clean, and considered the problem with her family had started, and how she loved Kemi. That was why it hurt so much B so very much. Haruhi cleared her throat.
"Kemi, I – I really hurt Kyouya and you, I know."
Kemi nodded making a shadow of her face.
"Do you know why?" Haruhi asked.
"Because," Kemi said, and faltered. Then she straightened her shoulders and looked Haruhi square in the eye as she said, "Because it's Dad. Because Mori hates him. Because Mori has hurt you both in some way or another."
Haruhi fought the urge to laugh and she could feel her eyes betraying her again; another quick swipe against her shoulder and she was ready to continue.
"There is that. But that's not just why." Haruhi sighed and covered their entwined fingers with her free hand.
"You didn't trust us," stated Kemi watching her mother begin to lie again.
Haruhi opened her mouth, probably to contradict her. But she shook her head and glared at Kemi until she had settled down.
"Yes we are upset that it's a man that looks a lot like Dad. You deserve so much better than him. But when I told you about my thoughts about you and he, it was obvious you'd never seriously thought about Dad much anymore. I know you care about Tamaki and all the other guys and their feelings, that much is obvious too," the younger Ohtori insisted to her.
"Really Kemi, why did you act like you did this morning?"
Haruhi looked at Kemi, daring her. Wisely, Kemi did not even try. Or perhaps it had nothing to do with wisdom at all.
"He's important to you, and it hurts that you didn't think you could trust your proper family with this. We are your family. Dad wants you to be happy. Mom, you were unhappy for so long, and I thought that Dad was enough for you. Dad's keeps trying every day and he even went back . . ."
Kemi stopped remembering that she had not told or knew of anyone telling her that Kyouya was in the hospital again. She took a deep breath and continued, feeling like she might throw up for hiding the truth, but Haruhi has hidden many things from her.
"So who cares if it's Dad that doesn't make your heart beat the way it did way back when you were in high school. I don't even know how Uncle Tamaki manages with Aunt Michelle but –"
"Tamaki learned his lesson with Éclair. Did you really think he would give up again?"
Kemi looked shaken by the sudden interruption.
"I should have trusted you. Both of you. I was selfish, I know, and afraid – afraid that Kyouya might reject me again, for good. That you'd both leave me."
Kemi shook her head in disbelief. "Mom, you were the one who rejected us, the other way around!"
"I suppose I might do better, but I – I don't know why I don't stop it – I think about ending it every day . . ."
Haruhi gulped back a sob and squeezed Kemi's hand so hard she felt it might break. And then she was squeezing back and if her hand broke so would hers and maybe everything wasn't fixed but it was a start, and that was something. Kemi's trust was something she had not seen as lost and her smile was something more. A real one this time, finally.
So when Haruhi slid down out of her chair and hid her tears in her hair, Kemi said, "I think you know why. I think we both do."
Haruhi didn't respond, just wrapped her arms around her mother and held her close.
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Author Notes: Hey its KB again! Thanks for the many hits on "Burying the King"! It's at 79 hits for week one! Granted it was not as public as most of my other promoted stories, but thanks for all the hits!
In this chapter it was originally going to be a separate chapter after Tenko (in memory) reveals that he is not the father to Kemi's baby. No its Kaoru. Ever wonder why I had her always at his condo. Well that's why, sorry Tenko/Kemi fans. Finally after all the time that Haruhi has been with Mori has come to an end. I will be focusing on getting back together, but wait? Kyouya's in the hospital, right?"
Next question for next time: How will Kemi do when Kyouya awakes (in the next chapter, again!) and begins fighting with Haruhi about her absence?
Hint: THINK OF A BABY AND A TWIN