Hi there! It's been another busy week for me. I've been busy at school and at On-the-Job-Training. My head keeps spinning round and round and I can't think very clearly last night. Now, I got a good night sleep, let me continue the next chappie for you!

It was already 5 in the afternoon and Haruhi was still inside of her room. She sat still in her room, unable to do her daily chores from what she had seen yesterday. In her right hand, she held her mobile phone with the picture of her and Tamaki behind it. The picture of Tamaki had slightly disappeared from the photo. She stared at the ground and slowly looked up at the sunset. The words Tamaki had whispered to her rang in her small ears, "I care less about that as long as I stay with you like this."

He cares less about what happens to himself and cares more about staying with me. What an idiot. How could he stay with me if he disappears? And now, that girl – The image of Éclair appeared on her mind – suddenly appears on the scene? What else would happen?

Beep. Beep. Her phone vibrated. She just received another text from Tamaki; he had been bothering her the whole day about the Masquerade ball since she had not given him any response to his continuous questions. When are you going to arrive at the ball? What dress color are you wearing? What time can I pick you up? It's just us, okay? Not the entire host club. We'll just be waiting for them by the time we arrive there.Haruhi shook her head. She kept his messages in her inbox without even bothering to reply. But at the back of her head, she knew that Tamaki wouldn't stop bothering her if she didn't give him any response. He might even think that she won't attend the ball. Haruhi scratched her head and stared at Tamaki's latest message. It took a minute before she had decided to press the reply button. She blinked. She bit her lip and stared at his name. She did not know what to say in the first place but then, another message was received; it was from Hikaru.

Haruhi, what time do you plan to leave your house? Can Kaoru – oh, he just declined to go with us – anyway, as I was saying can I pick you up instead? Kaoru would go with Kyoya and the others. Well? – Hikaru

Then, a thought struck Haruhi. It was pretty naughty. She sighed and closed her eyes before even pressing the button. She first replied to Hikaru, Sorry, Hikaru, Tamaki-senpai would pick me up by 6. You could probably go with Kaoru and the others instead. And then, she pressed the send button. She shut her eyes as the message was sent. Then, it was time for Tamaki. Sorry, Tamaki-senpai, Hikaru would pick me up by 6. You could probably go with Kyoya and the others instead. She pressed the button and placed her phone back to her pocket. She embraced her locked knees close to her chest and bent her head down.

It feels terrible. I don't want to do this but there's no other way. Haruhi muttered. Finally, she stood up and dressed up. She had set her mind up where she would go on that night. She was certain that the host club would visit her home once they figure out that she wasn't attending the ball.

At the New Cherry Blossom Hotel Tower, Tamaki and Kyoya had just arrived. It was a few minutes after 6. The two handsome, young men did not even enter the designated room. They have planned to enter it when the rest of the host club was complete. They were currently at the lobby. It had a huge, glistening chandelier at the middle. There was a huge red carpet where comfortable sofas and wooden, rectangular table were. At the right side of the lobby was the counter and the opposite side was a wall filled with enormous paintings. The wallpaper design was filled with light, cherry blossom petals of different sizes. Tamaki kept pacing left and right. He was wearing midnight blue top and white slacks for the bottom. He had his mask on his gloved hands. He kept glancing by the door until his neck almost cracked. He would look at his cell phone to check if Haruhi or Hikaru would text him but no one did.

"They would arrive here sooner or later. Why don't you just sit down and get something to entertain yourself?" Kyoya suggested. He pushed his spectacles and gazed at Tamaki with his sharp eyes. He had a purple tuxedo and cream slacks. He also had his mask on his right hand.

"I am anxious to see my Haruhi! She didn't tell me what color she would wear tonight!" Tamaki said abruptly.

"Is that really what you're anxious about?"

"Well, no, not really!" Tamaki flushed. "Hikaru is probably taking his time with Haruhi that's why they're still not here!"

"Kyo-chan! Tama-chan! Over here!" Honey waved his small Usa-chan at Tamaki and Kyoya. He was wearing an orange tuxedo while Mori had a royal blue tuxedo. He and Mori have just entered the New Cherry Blossom Hotel Tower. It seemed that they just ate something sweet. Tamaki and Kyoya noticed that Honey still had crumbles of cake near his lips. Mori quickly wiped it with his white handkerchief and gazed at the two with his usual expression. Honey seemed to be looking for someone behind Tamaki. He gazed at Tamaki with a puzzled expression on his face. "Where's Haru-chan?"

It took time before Tamaki could respond. He could not afford to say that he just lost to his rival in picking up Haruhi. "Hikaru would pick her up." Kyoya finally said. Tamaki felt his body froze at the moment.

"Huh? And I thought Tama-chan would do that? What happened?" Honey asked.

"Apparently, Hikaru was too quick for Tamaki."

"Don't say that, Kyoya!" Tamaki exclaimed. He gazed at his fingers and played with it. "P – Probably, Haruhi was too shy to admit that she wanted me to pick her up that's why she ended up choosing Hikaru."

"That's odd." Honey muttered.

"Why?" Tamaki and Kyoya asked in unison. Honey pointed at the Hitachiin twins. They arrived a few minutes after Honey and Mori. The pair of them were wearing blue and green tuxedo. It seemed that Haruhi was not with them.

"Yo!" the pair said.

"Where's my Haruhi? What have you done with her?" Tamaki shook Hikaru's shoulders.

"What are you talking about? She said that you were going to pick her up!" Hikaru said.

"Liar! She said that you were going to pick her up!"

"Why, you! Are you calling me a liar?"

"Well then, are you calling Haruhi a liar?"

"Quit it, both of you! Haru-chan would be sad if she had seen this!" Honey stood in front of the two and handed each of them a slice of strawberry cake. "Now, let's just eat cake and get along! But wait, do you guys like strawberry? I could get the strawberry at the top of your slice. . ." *Background: Irritation* Mori carried Honey out of the scene and let him eat the two slices of cake at far corner.

"I'm going to find her!" Tamaki marched out.

"Tamaki," Kyoya called. "It seemed that Haruhi had planned not to come along. She told you both the exact opposite thing."

"I don't care. She must have some reason why she did not let any of us to pick her up. I'm going to talk with her." Tamaki said seriously.

"What is with the commotion over here? Tamaki, where are you going?" a voice said from behind. Slowly, the gang turned their heads around and found Éclair standing next to them. She had her shoulder-length hair tied into a bun and she had this midnight blue and goldenrod dress. It was an emperor cut. She placed her mask down as she went closer to Tamaki.

"Oh, Éclair, I – I was just going to look for Haruhi." Tamaki said. "The Ball would not begin yet, I probably have time to talk to –" But Éclair had already taken his hands and led him to the designated room. The rest of the host club followed except for the twins; Kyoya told them to search for Haruhi. "Come, I want you to see my surprise for you."

"S – Surprise? Could it be that you have seen my Haruhi?" Tamaki pleaded.

"No, silly," Éclair's tone of voice changed upon hearing Haruhi's name. Then, she went on, "You'll see what it is when you come with me."

Éclair turned right after the end of the counter and it led to a stairs. Tamaki wondered what kind of surprise Éclair was going to give him. Finally, as they have reached the 1st floor, Éclair faced the 3rd door on the left wing. She wore her mask before she turned the doorknob. Kyoya and the others have done the same. Every guest in the room turned around as they entered. The room was enormous and bright. Green, rounded tables were arranged by the two sides, leaving the middle floor to be the dance floor. The floor had forest green and silver carpet. Éclair called out on of her servants and asked something about a familiar name. Tamaki's ears moved upon hearing what she said. Then, his eyes even widened as his beloved mother slowly appears behind the crowd. At that time, tears slowly fell down from his sapphire eyes.

"Where the heck Haruhi could have been?" Kaoru asked. The pair of them had left the hotel. He noticed that Hikaru had been silent ever since he and Tamaki had realized that Haruhi lied to them. It was all just an act for the two of them to quarrel about Haruhi. What they were really furious about was what Haruhi had told them.

"Do we really need to find her? It's obvious she does not want to be found." Hikaru muttered.

"Hikaru, don't be like that. Like the lord said, she must've her own reasons why she lied to you both. She probably doesn't want any of us to pick her up. Her father would probably escort her here." Kaoru said. He took his brother's hands and led the way to the Fujioka's residence. Hikaru gazed at the back of his twin. He had always found a way to calm him down.

"Let's search everywhere." Hikaru grinned.

"Oh, you don't want to attend the ball anymore? You just want to keep on searching for Haruhi?" Kaoru smirked.

"Probably," Hikaru shrugged. "Besides, Haruhi's the reason everyone's attending that ball right?"

"For the lord and Kyoya's case, I don't think so."

"Oh, yeah, it might be some business matter or something."

"For the lord, it might be just more than that."

"I get what you mean. Let's look for Haruhi quickly; I don't trust that Éclair girl much. She tried to break our club before, she might do it again."

"Right,"

Haruhi had left her home; she knew that the club would arrive any time soon. She was on the streets when she came across the old lady. It was her who had given Haruhi the magical rose. At that time, everyone froze; only Haruhi and the old lady were able to move. Haruhi took something out from her bag and handed it over to the old lady. The old lady refused to accept the rose and gazed at Haruhi under the cloak, "The wish will slowly be granted whether you like it or not. Staying away from him does not make him safe. I'm certain that the rose would not permit the pair of you to be separated by strings of fate."

"Why are you doing this? Why did you give each of us a pair of useless rose?" Haruhi asked.

"Useless, you say? Is it really useless to that person?" the old lady turned the question back to Haruhi.

Haruhi did not respond. She came closer to the old lady and placed the rose down next to her feet. Then, she turned around. "I know that Tamaki-senpai doesn't need to wish on that flower to get to me. We do not need those stupid wishes to control our lives. We choose what happens in our lives."

"Ah, that is a bold thing to say my dear. But that doesn't change the fact that the pair of you had your own deepest desires which you could not control to feel." A strong wind blew behind Haruhi. She closed her eyes as the wind went past her. Then, she opened her eyes and found everything back to normal. Everything was moving again. The old lady was gone and so was the rose. Haruhi did not feel contented; if she would stay away from Tamaki, she had better stay away for good. That may be the only possible way to keep him existing. Her small bangs covered her large eyes. Could she possibly stay away from him and the host club? Could she bear the thought of leaving them without saying goodbye?

Haruhi gazed at her mobile phone and found 15 messages coming from each member of the host club except for Tamaki and Mori. Had Tamaki stopped bothering her because she lied to him? She read each of their messages. She had realized that the twins were looking for her, that the ball already started and that. . . Tamaki had never felt so happy in his life because of Éclair? She stared at Honey's text message. She wanted to ask him what happened at the ball but she decided to hold back. She trembled as she dialed Tamaki's number; she waited for his idiotic voice to respond. But to her astonishment, it was not his voice that had responded to her call, it was Éclair.

"Hello? Can I speak with Tamaki-senpai? This is his number after all." Haruhi said.

"Oh, he's quite busy at the moment, Haruhi. He doesn't have time to speak with you. He has more important matters to attend to." Éclair said. She was alone at the corner of the room, watching from afar where Tamaki was. He was busy playing the piano beside his beloved mother, Anne-Sophie. It had been a long time since the host club had seen Tamaki very happy.

"N – Never mind then," Haruhi went on, "could you tell him I called?"

"Certainly," Éclair hang up and turned off Tamaki's mobile phone. "As soon as he remembers that you're not around."

Sorry I was only able to update now. Anyway, thanks for your support & reviews! ;) Tell me what you think of the chapter so far. If you have any other ideas that pop out in your head, don't hesitate to tell me okay?