It was now the holidays and I had just waved Naoki and Kimiko off at the airport where the private family plane was waiting for them. I was sad to see them leave but they promised to bring me back lots of presents and that they'd call me as often as they could. I didn't expect them to call as I doubted mom would let them but I allowed myself to hope just a little.
Although Yuri had been instructed to watch me like a hawk I told him that he should have a holiday too so he was going to visit his sister for a week and most of the staff were on holiday too. When there was just one person in the house, what was the point of keeping everyone there when I can look after myself perfectly well? The maids were scheduled to come in in rotas every couple of days to clean but mostly, I was all alone.
Just as I walked in the door to a large, empty house, I couldn't help but feel just as empty and lonely inside. Well, this was my holiday. Or at least, so I thought. As I swung the door shut behind me, it burst open again and the host club all appeared at the door as I yelled and flung my arms up to shield myself, Tamaki's voice ringing loud and clear. "Katsumi mon chérie! The host club has decided to take you away for a family vacation to Hawaii, so let's go!"
"Huh? What? But…" The twins slipped their arms under mine, lifting me off the ground whilst whispering in my ear.
"We already packed your bags for you so there's no need to worry, it's all under control." They informed me as they began to walk back towards the door, everyone dressed in flower print Hawaiian shirts with shorts, shades and flip flops.
"But I can't just go to Hawaii! I need my passport and my sketchbooks, not to mention you two probably packed the most hideous things you could find…wait, HOW DID YOU GET INTO MY CLOSET?!"
"Don't worry, we packed stuff from our mom's collection so everything is brand new and we made sure it was all your style." They winked at me before without another word, I was thrown into a car and driven away.
"Hey! Hey! This is kidnapping! Will someone please tell me what's going on? HELP ME!" Had you been standing outside my house, you would have seen my agonised features pressed against the glass of the window as the car drove away, carrying me with it.
When we were all settled on the plane I gripped onto the seat tightly, having a mild panic attack as I stared straight ahead whilst trembling in my seat, unable to keep calm as everyone else seemed perfectly happy to lounge about in Kyoya's family plane. There were fresh drinks, snacks, plenty of cake for Honey and entertainment ready for us, however I couldn't even stop my hand from shaking as my nails dug into the leather seat.
"Kitty-chan? Are you feeling okay?" Honey asked me as he looked up from his third slice of cake. "You're shaking rather bad."
"Uh huh…" I stammered, breathing uncontrollably as I kept my eyes tightly glued shut. "I'm fine."
"Are you sure? You're sweating quite a lot." Haruhi said from beside me, looking closely at me before she blinked. "You're not afraid of flying, are you?" I bit down on my lip and almost made it bleed from biting too hard.
"Yeah…maybe…and heights in general." The engines fired up and I yelled in terror, leaping towards the exit. "I WANNA GO HOME! I WANNA GO HOME!" It took Tamaki, the twins and Mori to restrain me until finally Mori lifted me up off the ground and managed to sit me back down in the seat next to him, wordlessly buckling me in before he curled his hand around my head and pulled me close to him.
"It's okay." He told me simply as I stopped shrieking and went back to hyperventilating, my blood pumping through my veins as my hands continued to shake. I don't like this. I really don't like this. Every time I've travelled before my parents have had to give me something to sedate me I was so frightened of heights. I always figured that the most painful way to die was by being squashed to death after falling from a high vantage point or by plane crash. It'll be so easy for this plane to malfunction, just one faulty wire and we're all doomed! Pretty soon I was sobbing, tears streaming down my face.
"Please let me go home…I don't want to fly…I'm scared…"
"Wow, I never thought she'd be scared of heights of all things." Hikaru in surprise as the twins sat opposite us.
"Yeah, I figured she'd be afraid of something like clowns or rats." Kaoru agreed as I continued to wail, Mori securing his grip around me more firmly as the plane reached altitude and levelled out. By then one of the air hostesses had come around with drinks, stopping by us and held out something for me.
"Here you are miss, this will help calm you down for the flight, it'll make you feel all better." She told me so I quickly grabbed the drink and downed it all in one. It didn't make me feel better, I was still crying, however as time ticked on, I began to feel incredibly drowsy.
"Wait a minute…did you just drug me…?" I slurred, wavering in my seat as I took off my restraint and tried to stand up. "I'm hungry…I wanna eat something…" My words became a garbled mess before finally the drugs kicked in and I slumped back into my seat, falling straight asleep. Shouldn't they have told me they'd put something in my drink? For all they knew I could be allergic to whatever they gave me! At least it wasn't injection like my parents always made me take, it developed my fear of needles.
Anyway I slept for the entire flight and only woke up when someone was shaking me, so I blinked and sat up, recognising Haruhi however the room, not so much. It was a fancy room with an entire wall taken away to reveal the wide open sky and beach down below, a completely picturesque look that made me have to blink several more times just to check I wasn't dreaming.
"Hey, you were asleep all night. You must be hungry by now." Haruhi said as I rubbed my eyes.
"I really was kidnapped, they drugged me and everything. Well, could be worse I suppose. They could have taken me to England." I shuddered. Haruhi hovered slightly as I got up to make sure I wasn't still affected by the sedative but once I found I could stand on my own two feet perfectly fine, she stepped back a little.
"Breakfast is ready downstairs if you are hungry, the guys want to head down to the beach for the day, do you fancy coming along with us?" She asked as she slid back a closet door to reveal a large walk in wardrobe where a bunch of clothes hung. "Hikaru and Kaoru brought all this stuff for us to wear, yours is on the left and mine's on the right. They didn't give me a chance to pack much myself so I mainly just brought books with me."
"That sounds like them. I don't even have my music player with me." I whimpered unhappily but then realised it was sitting right next to my bed along with my headphones. "Okay, that's just creepy. How did they get this from my house anyway?"
"I don't even want to know. When I asked Kyoya, he just told me he had his ways." The both of us shivered before we started to pick out our clothes for the day. Seeing as we were going to the beach, I theorised that a swimsuit would be appropriate, however when Haruhi and I checked our sections, both of us stared in horror.
"They're all bikinis!" Our voices rung in unison as I clenched a fist tightly and lifted it threateningly. "I'm going to kill those two. I just hope they got the right size, because if not then they're not going to make it to lunch."
"They said they took our measurements the day we were made to try out all those clothes." Haruhi informed me and I blushed, remembering the maids as they'd tried to take mine and I had fought them off until eventually conceding defeat. "At least some of them look pretty decent, I remember the first time they made me wear something to swim in, those maids had picked out some pretty immodest selections." Haruhi reasoned with me and I dreaded to think what the bikini had looked like.
I decided to go for a plain white matching bikini with a halter, the fabric slightly shimmery with silver so I picked it out then chose a blue top and khaki shorts to wear over the top along with some sandals. Haruhi managed to find a purple and black tankini top with a frilled skirt around the bottoms, deciding that it looked the most modest and wore a violet sundress over the top.
Once we were ready, we head downstairs though I had stopped to gather some things with me in a beach bag such as sun cream, sunglasses, a book, my sketchbook and pencils which had miraculously been packed for me, some towels and my music player with headphones. With this all packed neatly away, I slung the bag over my shoulder then followed Haruhi downstairs where everyone was already eating breakfast.
"Haruhi! You look…you look…" Tamaki had leaped out of his seat and was now staring at Haruhi with his mouth wide open as she blinked at him obliviously.
"Tamaki-senpai?" She questioned as I appeared at her side and smirked.
"She looks pretty, doesn't she Tamaki?" I prompted and he quickly cleared his throat, blushing darkly as he tugged on his shirt.
"Yes, very pretty. Daddy is so proud of his little girl." He informed her as I rolled my eyes then sat down to have some fruit salad for breakfast. "And how are you feeling Katsumi? You had us worried when you freaked out on the plane like that. You didn't tell us you were afraid of flying."
"Yeah, well, I didn't expect to be kidnapped and flown to Hawaii so I forgot to mention it." I answered bluntly as I shovelled fruit into my mouth, my stomach rumbling loudly. "So next time you decide to take me somewhere without my consent, make sure you warn me first."
"But that would have ruined the surprise Kitty-chan!" Honey told me brightly as he sat opposite me with what looked like kiwi cake in front of him. "We wanted to surprise you with a holiday so that you could relax from all the hard work you've been doing."
"We've already arranged with your team at the jewellers that you are not to be disturbed for the week unless it is absolutely necessary." Kyoya told me in his casual tone as he sat on the sofa of the rather extravagant and luxurious Hawaiian villa. Just outside I could see a massive pool with diving boards, a hot tub and a sauna as well. "So as far as work is concerned, you can rest easy for this week."
"And since we were going to come here anyway, we decided to bring you along!" The twins chorused as they popped up next to me as I swallowed some mango.
"Wow, that makes me feel very special." I drawled before sighing. "But thanks you guys, this is very kind of you all."
"We owed you a favour, after all." Kyoya reminded me and I frowned slightly. I'm pretty sure the favour should be decided by the person who's owed one but never mind, I guess they were just trying to look out for me in their own way.
"And now, with all explanations over and done, we should all vacate to the beach. Gentleman! Let us go!" Tamaki declared before running on ahead with the twins close behind, Honey laughing happily as he skipped after them with Mori in tow.
"I can't decide whether I should be really excited or really worried about this holiday." I said to Haruhi blankly as she stood beside me.
"I agree. This is just going to end badly. I can tell." She said before we walked after the host club. Haruhi was quickly pulled into searching for shells and creatures by Honey so I set up our blanket and large umbrella to provide some shade before, having grabbed a few things with me before we left. I'd even managed to find a cool box and I'd filled it with drinks so that no one would get dehydrated under the sun.
"So how come there's no one else around here?" I asked as Kyoya lounged on a deckchair.
"This beach is privately owned by my family, so you won't be seeing anyone else around here. The villa is also private so we won't be disturbed." He informed me as he leaned back with a cocktail drink in his hand. "However there is a town not too far away from here, so feel free to visit whenever you like."
"Thanks, that sounds great." I said before looking over to where Tamaki and the twins were already engaging in a water fight and Haruhi was looking around some rock pools. The sun is pretty bright, if she's not careful she might burn her skin. "Haruhi! Come over here a minute, you need to put some sun cream on or you'll burn!" I yelled and waved over to her, making her look up before she strolled back over to me and I squirted the lotion into her hand so she could rub it onto her skin. "Here, I'll do your back for you."
"Thanks Katsumi." She said before sitting down and turning around so that I could get to her shoulders and back, making sure to cover all areas before I started on my own. "I think I'm going to read for a bit but I heard Kyoya mention something about a town nearby, do you want to go check it out later?"
"Yeah, that sounds like fun." I smiled at her. "We can go after lunch, that'll give us plenty of time to look around before dinner." Haruhi beamed at me before settling down to read a book as I lay down on the blanket resting, curling my toes into the sand after I'd taken off my shoes however a while later, I heard Honey calling out to me.
"Kitty-chan! Kitty-chan! Come play in the ocean with me!" He laughed and I sat up, looking out to him in the water with a pink rubber ring so I gave a sighing laugh before standing.
"Alright, I'm coming." I called back lazily before reaching for my top and pulled it off before sliding out of my shorts also. Though I felt a little exposed I remedied it by running into the water, splashing my way over to Honey before diving straight into the crystal clear waters, wrapping myself up in the silky folds before I reached Honey. "Hey Honey-kun, having fun?" I grinned at him before giving him a little splash which made him laugh.
"Do you want to go jumping off those rocks with me Kitty-chan? It looks like fun!" Honey pointed towards a jagged rise of rocks that overlapped the water not too far away from where we were now. "Come on, I'll race you!" I gave a competitive grin.
"Okay, but I'm a fast swimmer just to warn you." I said before diving forwards and began to streak through the water, swimming in an agile line straight towards the rocks before I began to wade out of the water, Honey calling after me to wait up so I paused at the bottom of the rocks until he'd caught up to me.
"Wow Kitty-chan, you swim really fast!" He grinned before he ran over to where Mori was lounging around. "Here Takashi, will you look after my rubber ring for me? Thank you!" He trilled before running back over to the rocks where together we started to climb up. I stood at the edge first, slowly looking over. "Is it too high Kitty-chan? You're not scared?" Honey asked as Tamaki and the twins came towards us as well.
"Yeah, you were freaking out over flying, doesn't this bother you?" Kaoru asked me but I shook my head.
"No, this isn't so high. It's extreme heights that really scare me and flying. I just can't handle that." I said before folding my arms and looking away with a stubborn expression. "If humans were meant to fly we would have been born with wings." It was true. Whichever insane idiot who thought it would be a good idea to build a machine to make a human fly deserves to be kicked in the head because I certainly don't appreciate being made to fly in a big metal case. Ever.
"So who's going to jump first?" Honey asked and the other three boys peered over the edge, suddenly losing their confidence.
"I don't know, I think the boss should jump first." Hikaru said and Tamaki gulped.
"Me?" He squeaked before putting on a brave face. "Yes of course, as president of the host club, it's my duty to lead my men forwards no matter what the danger or consequence." He said, banging his fist into his palm but I had already walked away to get a running jump.
"I'll go!" I offered with a grin before I ran straight for the edge and flung myself over. I gave a loud yell of exhilaration before I plunged into the water, sinking deep before I turned my face upwards and kicked with my legs, using my arms to help lift me up until I broke the surface with a rush, smiling as I flicked my hair back over my head with a spray of droplets before I looked up at the others. "Come on! It's so much fun, jump in already!" I cheered them on as I tread the water and all at once they jumped right in, making laugh uncontrollably as I was splashed with multiple fountains of water before one by one they popped up.
"Again! Again! Again!" Honey cheered as the others all laughed.
"That was fun, I'll race you guys back to the top!" Kaoru called and soon we were racing and jumping like crazy, never getting bored of the process until finally it was lunchtime and Haruhi called me over, asking if I still wanted to go to town.
"I'm coming Haruhi!" I waved back at her before I swam out of the ocean, wading through the water the moment my feet touched the bottom then head straight over to Haruhi who held out a towel for me so I dried off my hair and skin as the others began to drag themselves out of the water.
"Haru-chan!" Honey waved from where he rode on Mori's shoulders, making me glance over before my jaw dropped slightly. Oh god, Mori wasn't wearing a shirt. Why did I not realise this before now?! The water was dripping off his sculpted muscles and I felt my face flush as I stared at him before I quickly turned my back, gulping quietly before I hurriedly wrapped the towel around myself. "Haru-chan, are you going into town?"
"That's right, Katsumi and I were going to go together." She said and the twins popped up into view with their elbows resting on her head.
"That sounds like fun, can we come too?"
"No." I answered for her, giving them both a pointed glare. "This is a girls only date, so none of you guys will be coming with us." Walking over to Haruhi I pulled her safely into my arms, smirking with a proud wink towards the others as my around curled neatly over her shoulders in a hug. "So you guys behave until we get back, okay?"
"What?! That's not fair!" The twins complained however when I cracked my knuckles and towered over them, they gulped smartly in fear.
"Oh yeah? You sure you want to argue with me boys?" I questioned and they quickly shook their heads, lifting their hands up in surrender.
"No we're good, have fun!"
"Excellent, let's go Haruhi, I need a shower before we go." Taking her hand I quickly pulled her away, my head lowered in slight embarrassment. I can't believe I completely forgot that we'd be going to a beach where Mori wouldn't be wearing a shirt, I should have thought this through a little more carefully as otherwise I wouldn't have gone swimming in a stupid bikini!
When we got to the villa I had a quick shower to wash off the salt before I head into town with Haruhi, wearing my shirt and shorts once again with a small rucksack which carried things like my phone and purse inside. "So where do you want to go first? Are you hungry?"
"Not really, how about we try the bookstore? They might have something interesting on offer, or maybe the gift shops. I'd like to get my dad a souvenir." Haruhi said thoughtfully so I suggested we just walk down the streets and go into any shops that take our fancy which she agreed to. The first one turned out to be a gift shop though it was mainly for kids, full of plastic buckets and spades and body boards so we didn't purchase anything there.
We found it rather easy to make conversation with each other as we had similar interests in literature so there was never nothing more to say, however I was interested with Haruhi's choice of career when she told me she wanted to be a lawyer so she explained to me about her mom. As we entered a bookstore, we browsed through the books, making comments to each other. "I tried reading this book because it came recommended by one of my favourite authors, however I just couldn't get into it." I said as I pulled said book off the shelf. "I found it too platonic for my liking, the main characters just irritated me because they wouldn't follow the story line romance that the writer had created and seemed to contradict himself with their relationship."
"Oh yeah, I think I've read that one." Haruhi said as she looked over the cover. "I'm not too into romance myself so I don't think I ever finished it but my dad did. He cried over the ending when they ended up married to other people." I hate it when romances don't go the way they should, it's just too frustrating. "Have you tried this series? It's not a romance at all, in fact it's a murder mystery series about this detective and all his cases. It's really well written in my opinion and I sometimes struggle to guess the real killer so it keeps you on your toes."
"Really? I'll give it a try in that case, I've always wanted to try a different genre but haven't found anything to my tastes so far." I mused as I read the back and nodded my head, feeling intrigued and curious so I tucked the book under my arm. As Haruhi struggled to reach for a book on a high shelf I walked over to her and rose up onto my toes, standing a little taller and managed to reach it down for her so she smiled as I handed it to her.
"Thanks."
"No problem." I beamed before we carried on searching through the books, reading over a couple of them before making our decisions to get them. We managed to spend two and a half hours in that shop, the both of us becoming engrossed in a book each and almost read the entire thing in that time before we laughed guiltily and took our books over to the counter. Along with the books I had managed to find a few manga comics that I'd been looking for so I was very happy. "Here, let me get those for you." I said, lifting Haruhi's books from her arms and she blinked at me.
"No that's alright, I can get them." She said but I just gave her a look before flashing her my card.
"Haruhi, when a filthy rich girl offers to buy you presents, it's not normal to say no." I winked. "Don't worry, you deserve to be spoiled for all the hard work you do at school. Let's say this shopping trip is on me." Before Haruhi could argue further I paid for all the books then handed her the plastic bag with her bounty in them, a grateful blush touching her cheeks.
"Thanks Katsumi."
"You're welcome." I chirped with a grin. "Now what's next? I'm thinking we should get some decent swimsuits, because there's no way I'm going to wear bikinis all holiday. I need a new one anyway, the one I have at home is pretty old and I don't think I fit in it anymore." So that's where we head next, Haruhi ending up choosing a cute buttercup yellow one piece with three frills around the top, hiding the fact that she was flat chested rather well and I got her a matching cap with a flower just because I thought it was cute.
Myself I found a simple dark blue one and didn't bother with one of the expensive ones, getting one in the sale as I wasn't too concerned about looking fashionable. By this point Haruhi and I were grinning and laughing, talking with bubbles of excitement. After trying out the fourth shop we decided we were hungry so we stopped at a café and ordered some food and milkshakes, resting our feet as we picked a window seat.
Haruhi was in the middle of telling me some of the crazy things the host club had got up to before I came along when I noticed something outside. At first I thought I had imagined it but when I looked again, I noticed the glint of binoculars from an alley just across the street, staring right at us. Are we being spied on?
However as I looked out of the corner of my eye, I managed to see Tamaki as he was pushed out by the twins before he hastily retreated. Oh great, we are being spied on. By the host club! That's just perfect, and here I was hoping for a peaceful afternoon with Haruhi. Although…perhaps there's some room for a little fun if they insist on following us around. "Hey Haruhi, after this do you maybe want to go see if there are any tourist information guides somewhere? I'd like to see if there will be any festivals coming up and then we can go check out some more shops."
"Sure, that sounds like a good idea. I think there's going to be a fireworks display at the end of the week and they'll be a huge barbeque and dancing." She listed before taking a sip of her milkshake. "I have to admit, this was really nice of everyone to bring us on holiday with them." Her eyes turned to gaze out the window as a distant but peaceful smile touched her features. "I mean, I know I'll probably end up having to pay for this holiday through my debt to the host club, but it makes me feel happy to know they consider involving me with things like this."
"They may be goofballs and morons for the most part but their hearts are always in the right place." I agreed, leaning into my hand as I looked up at the sky. "Though Kyoya-kun and Mori-senpai seem to be the most level headed of them all, I love how unique each and every one of them are. Even the twins. I know people can't tell them apart but there's something about the two of them that complement one another in completely different ways."
"How is it you can tell them apart?" Haruhi asked me curiously. "I know you say it's because of your artists' eye but I think it's more than that." I have a level smile, lowering my head slightly as my hand curled around my chocolate milkshake.
"Yeah, I guess it is. I can't quite explain it. Sometimes they act so alike that it's like they're each other's shadows but it's seems like I just know by instinct. It's probably because I'm a twin myself, I just have a sense for who they are as a person. Does that make sense?"
"I get it, yeah, but I doubt anyone else would." She remarked. "Although I never tell anyone, I'm actually glad I met the host club." Haruhi revealed and I sat up a little straighter as she fiddled with her side salad. "I mean, if I hadn't then I doubt I'd have any friends at school. Without them I'd be lonely and I don't want that, it's a pretty dark feeling.
"I hear you, I never made friends back in France, you know." I revealed and Haruhi looked at me in surprise. "It just didn't come easy to me. There was my sister, all beautiful and friendly, she made friends so easily it was unreal whereas I struggled to relate to others because they were just too different from me. They were all about fashion and labels, it was France after all, whereas I enjoyed art, literature and history. I guess I just didn't fit in with them the way I do here." Turning to Haruhi I smiled at her warmly. "It's nice. I like having so many people I can call my friend."
"Yeah, me too." Haruhi agreed before a sudden blush crept onto her cheeks. "Hey, I was wondering…do you still have those photos from a few weeks back?"
"From the photo shoot?" I questioned and she nodded her head. "Sure I do, they're all saved on my computer. Though I still had to buy a magazine regardless at Tamaki's insistence, saying that I had to show my support to the club as a regular customer and then the twins threatened me with that dumb photo of me sucking my thumb." I smacked a hand to my face. "I have to get rid of it somehow."
"Well I was just hoping that…maybe you wouldn't mind…printing off a few more for me." Haruhi requested and she blushed further. "It's just, since you gave me copies of the photos you took of us with my dad and also that canvas you painted, it just feels a little weird not having photos of all my friends." A slow grin crept onto my features as inwardly I began to scheme.
"Sure thing Haruhi, I'll email you the whole lot then you can pick out the ones you want for me to print off, does that sound good?"
"Yeah, thanks." She blushed further and I received the tingling sense that something was going on here and I couldn't wait to find out if my suspicions were correct. We finished our meal which Haruhi insisted on paying for then moved on, carrying our books and things with us. I was half tempted to call the boys over and making them carry them all back to the villa as a means of getting them off our tail, as whenever I glanced over my shoulder I caught glimpses of them disappearing behind poles, stalls and ducking into alleys to remain out of sight. They're such adorable morons.
"Hey, let's check in here." Haruhi said to me, pointing into a large gift shop and I nodded my head, already seeing some things in the window that I liked.
"Yeah, it looks like it's got some good stuff. Can you see that shell wind chime? I'm going to get that for Kimiko because she loves the beach." I beamed, bounding inside and awed over all the merchandise, taking my time browsing as Haruhi did the same, sticking close together as it was quite busy however when a large tourist family finally left, taking their eight children with them, it became a lot easier to breathe.
"Look at this Katsumi, what do you think? Do you reckon my dad will like this?" Haruhi asked me, holding up a wooden carving of a dolphin leaping out of a wave, the wood made to look like driftwood however the effect was extremely effective as it finished it with a textured flawlessness that I couldn't help but admire.
"Your dad would love anything you bought him, even if it was just a key ring." I reasoned with her flatly but then grinned. "But I think he'll particularly love this, it's beautiful. I think I'll get one of those statues too, I really like the driftwood they use." I decided on a shark for Naoki because he liked all animals, the wind chime made with seashells for Kimiko then looked around for something for me.
My eyes fell on the jewellery and instantly I was hooked. I loved the surfer style and had always meant to get myself something however had never found anything to my liking or in a suitable place, however where better than Hawaii? "Do you like them?" Haruhi asked and I nodded my head enthusiastically.
"I can't decide between these three, so I'm going to get them all." I beamed, picking them up and inspected them all. The first one was a warm mahogany and white smooth wooden beaded necklace that sat close around my throat but wasn't quite as tight as a choker so it didn't feel like I was being strangled. The second was a little longer, coming to my collarbone in a brown cord with a couple of the white smooth wooden beads either side of the pendant, a cowrie shell on top of a flat, round shell that shimmered beautifully with different hues of blue. The third was the coolest, a long necklace that hung low on my chest and was a single shark tooth, making me grin as I looked at it, nestling neatly over the top of my shirt as I exited the shop with my gifts in two separate bags.
"These are starting to get heavy, do you think we should head back?" Haruhi said and I checked the time, finding that we'd spent five hours in town in total. Oops.
"Probably, we've been out for five hours now." I mused to myself. That's a shame, I didn't get a chance to play some pranks on the boys. Oh well, we did drag them all around town so they must be exhausted by now so it serves them right. "We'd better head back before it gets dark, it's not safe to be out that late in a place you don't know."
"You're right, we better get going. We don't want the guys to worry, though Tamaki-senpai is probably tearing his hair out by now." Haruhi muttered and I grinned slightly. We began to lug our shopping back home however we had to make a few stops to rest our arms, the books carrying most of the weight. We should have probably saved that shop for last, come to think of it. It would have been the smarter way to go about it but we'd just got over excited at the prospect of so many new books to read. Or manga, in my case. "Hey Katsumi, do you get the feeling that we're being followed?" Haruhi suddenly said to me and I opened my eyes from where I lounged on the bench.
"Yeah, and that we're being watched." I agreed however when I turned around, it wasn't the guys that were looking at us. It was three guys, looking rather suspicious as they watched us both from behind heavy sunglasses, wearing dark colours and their arms were heavily tattooed. Now I'm never one to judge, however I wasn't comfortable with the way they were looking at Haruhi and I, like we were their next meal. "Haruhi, let's go." I said to her quickly, grabbing our bags and stood up quickly, holding hers in my hand also as I began to stride forwards.
"Katsumi wait! Let me carry my things, it's the least I can do since you bought most of my stuff for me." Haruhi called as she jogged after me to catch up. "What's the matter? Why are you so tense all of a sudden?"
"No reason, I just want to make sure we're not in any trouble." I answered her ambiguously. "So don't worry about a thing, okay? Besides you're tired, let me carry your bags so you can rest your arms a little longer then we'll do a trade, okay?"
"Okay, if you're sure." Haruhi answered slowly then looked on ahead. When I was sure she was distracted I glanced over my shoulder and sure enough, the three of them were following us. Oh crap, not good. It's not even dark out! What do I do? I picked up Haruhi's things so that if she needed to run she wouldn't have anything weighing her down, however that left me with more weight then I can carry. My arms are already screaming at me. It'll be a shame but I might have to just drop them all and run for it.
My heart beat faster as the three men began to pick up the pace, closing in on us however before they even came within ten feet of us, we were suddenly surrounded by the host club and Tamaki called out with a little too much enthusiasm to be natural.
"Haruhi! Daddy was so worried about you, you've been gone for hours without even a call!" He fussed with loud wails, throwing his arms around Haruhi and nuzzling against her as she scowled blankly.
"We told you we were going into town so there was no need to be so worried, senpai." She informed him bluntly as Mori, Kyoya and the twins grabbed a couple of bags each and instantly I slumped, exhaling with relief as my arms suddenly felt as heavy as lead, drooping as the weight was taken away from me.
"So what did you buy? Can we have a look?" The twins questioned, opening up one of the bags to look in but I whacked them on the head with a fist, warning them off with a pointed glare.
"Don't even think about it, those belong to Haruhi and are not for you." I told them sternly as Honey jumped onto my back.
"Kitty-chan! Did you have fun?" He asked with a laugh however as I looked up at him I saw him suddenly narrow his eyes darkly and look back over his shoulder to the three men who had halted, hesitating slightly but when Mori turned a look on them, they backed off visibly before turning and leaving. I'm not surprised they left. The look Mori was giving them was enough to make me shudder in slight fear. "Did those guys scare you Kitty-chan?"
"No Honey-kun, I knew you guys have been following us all afternoon." I told him as his arms hugged me tightly, his legs wrapping around my waist as we began walking back to the villa together. "You're not the most inconspicuous of groups you know."
"You've been following us?!" Haruhi demanded, pinching Tamaki's skin to make him let go of her before she walked out of his grasp, leaving him wincing and whimpering in pain with tears streaming down his face so I tugged on his wrist to start him walking forwards with us.
"Daddy was worried about his little girl being out in a strange town with hardly anyone to protect her!" Tamaki whined in a high pitched voice and I shot him a dark look.
"What do you mean? I'm perfectly capable of protecting Haruhi and besides, she doesn't even need protecting. Haruhi is an independent woman just like me, we can do things by ourselves you know."
"Exactly." Haruhi agreed and that was our argument until we reached the villa once more, Tamaki still complaining that his daughter was rebelling against his protection. "For goodness sake, I can take care of myself Tamaki-senpai!" She huffed, taking her bags and stomping up the stairs. "I'm going for a shower." She announced before disappearing from sight. The moment she was gone I exhaled with relief.
"Thank you everyone, for appearing when you did." I said to them quietly and they all turned towards me, seeing that I had bowed my head low to them all. "If it weren't for you, I don't know what those three men would have tried, so thank you."
"It's okay Katsumi, we only followed because we were curious what a girls' date was like." Kaoru informed me, placing his elbow on my head as I stood up straight, Hikaru doing the same.
"Yeah, so it was just coincidence that we happened to be around when those guys showed up."
"To be honest, those guys had been watching you for a while." Tamaki informed me as he walked up to me and I blinked up at him in surprise. They had? "We noticed them when you left the café, they started to follow you and hung around outside when you went into the shops before following you again. We didn't want to confront them and cause a scene, so we decided it would be better to just keep an eye on you two." His eyes then turned serious, narrowing as he placed his hands on my shoulders. "But from now on neither of you are to go out alone without proper escort, we're responsible for your safety so we won't take any more risks like that." I levelled with his eyes for a moment before nodding my head.
"Agreed." He recoiled slightly in shock, staring down at me before pushing a hand through his hair.
"You're not going to argue?" He questioned, his tone full of surprise as I looked down then closed my eyes, trying not to picture what might have happened had those men managed to catch us and pull us down a dark alley or something.
"Safety is something that must always be taken seriously and I agree, we can't run the risk of being left alone and vulnerable in a place we don't know where anything could happen. I agree that as girls, Haruhi and I might be targeted again because we look easy prey, though should anyone dare try and hurt Haruhi…" My eyes opened with a dark fire burning in their depths. "They'll have me to deal with." My fists were clenched tightly at my side so I relaxed, letting them hang loose before I picked up my bags. "Thanks for carrying our shopping for us, it was getting pretty heavy."
"It was no trouble, just be careful in future. We wouldn't want anything to happen to either of you two otherwise I would be left with the task of explaining to your family why it is you left the country without their permission and it will fall to Tamaki to explain to Ranka why his daughter met an unfortunate accident." Tamaki paled visibly and I allowed myself a weak smile before I climbed up the stairs however instead of entering my room I shared with Haruhi, I pressed my back against the wall and listened.
"That was too close men, Haruhi and Katsumi were almost kidnapped today. We can't allow that to happen again!" Tamaki declared determinedly.
"They should be safe so long as they stay in the villa and on the beach as it is private property, however I would like to see you try chaining either one of them to the premises for the entire holiday." Kyoya's calm voice wafted up as the twins spoke together in unison.
"So long as they stay with one of us or in a group, then no one would even think to go near them unless they're stupid."
"Yeah! I can protect Haru-chan and Takashi will protect Kitty-chan, that sounds like a great plan."
"Ah." I pressed my eyes shut and placed my head on my knees. This was supposed to be a relaxing holiday, not one where I worried about getting kidnapped along with my best friend. Shaking my head I stood up. No, I won't let this get me down. I am going to enjoy myself here and whoever even tries to dampen my spirits will meet a cruel fate with a cliff and a long drop into the ocean. This was just one incident and it won't happen again, so there's nothing to worry about!
So with a new grin plastered on my face I went back into my room and began to neatly put my things away.