A/N: We've reached the end, my friends. It's been a lovely journey and a wonderful story to write, but I'm afraid we're almost done with dear Htelobbihs. I hope this chapter doesn't seem too rushed to you, but let me know if you have any problems with it. It just kind of wrote itself... so, with no further ado... enjoy!
Disclaimer: Nothing owned, nothing earned. Entertainment purposes only. Thanks!
Htelobbihs: Chapter Fourteen
By: Rae
-An 'Ouran High School Host Club' Fanfic-
She gazed around the room, staring with wonder at the group gathered before her. It was obvious they were all boys, even the smallest one, and she'd registered the words 'host club' before being dragged into this mess. Now having been branded the host club dogsbody, she stood before them, glasses slightly askew, listening to the introductions the blond-haired 'king' was making.
The smallest was Haninozuka 'Hunny' Mitsukuni, and he smiled up at her childishly, grabbing her hand gleefully. Next to him was his cousin Morinozuka 'Mori' Takashi. He inclined his head with a solemn stare. The twins from her class were Hitachiin Hikaru and Kaoru, holding hands and smirking impishly at her. The glasses-wearing boy was Ootori Kyouya, and the president of the club, waving his arms dramatically and smiling broadly at her, was Suou Tamaki.
She bowed slightly, feeling more familiar with them, and as she glimpsed the floor before her, mists swirled, engulfing her in them. She whirled around and landed, haphazardly on the floor, groaning. The sound of another's groaning met her ears, and she looked next to her to see Hikaru slumped next to her, clutching a small pair of scissors and cursing. The remains of a net were around them, and she saw in the dim light the halls of Ouran.
The next minute, the two were running, Hikaru ahead of her, screaming for Kaoru, and she was following him into...blinding sunlight. She stopped running immediately, finding herself pulled into a gazebo at what seemed to be the heart of a maze. Her eyes sought her captor, and she stared into the violet ones of Tamaki, shushing her with a gentle finger to her lips.
She huddled down in the gazebo with him, her form comforted somehow by the strength of his. And she whispered with him as they waited to see if they would be found by the seekers. A sound of laughter met their ears, and the rest of the host club came into view, led by Kyouya. They walked back to the school together, joking about Tamaki's status as son of the head of Ouran. She stopped in shock, eyes huge in her round face, barely able to digest such a fact.
The mists swirled around her, and she heard the distinct sound of thunder. Her heart pounded in her chest as she raced to the nearest place to hide, finding it in a dark room. The dresser was large enough for her to climb inside, and she did so, huddling in the dark, clutching her knees to her chest, trembling.
The door opened, and she saw a bemused Tamaki watching her. He said something to her, but she couldn't respond. Thunder crashed again, and before she knew what she was doing, she found herself hurtling into Tamaki's arms and snuggling up against him, trying to bury herself in his warmth. She could feel the surprise radiating off him, but she didn't care.
Another clap of thunder came, and she was aware of the torrential rain pouring down on the house where they stood, him stroking her back. But now his arms were gone, and the sound of rain became the sound of waves. She stood on a rock, stubbornly arguing with two teens, who glared at her as girls shuddered behind them. The sound of her name caught her off guard, and the one nearest her shoved her hard, over the rocks. She didn't care; she could swim. But as she plunged headfirst, she felt two arms wrap around her body with care, a hand covering the top of her head, protecting her as they hit the water.
She came to as they walked back to shore, held securely in his embrace. Her legs dangled, and she felt utterly drained and limp, just happy not to have to walk by herself. But he wasn't happy with her; she could feel it, and she wanted to reach up to touch him...
She stared in surprise, no longer in his arms, but by his side. They walked along the path to her house, and she felt him take hold of her hand. The night had been lovely, and she thought fondly of the dinner they'd shared. He was adorable and so like a child sometimes. When she smiled up at him as they turned the corner to her street, however, her breath caught in her throat.
He stopped, pulling her to a halt, and the look in his eyes was deep, unfathomable, she couldn't pull away. He stepped closer to her, moving the hand holding hers to her waist, and she shivered. This wasn't what they had planned, and she was afraid to see what would happen next. His hand felt so good against her, though, and she moved her hand to his arm, touching it lightly.
The gleam in his eyes intensified at her movement, and he put his other hand up, cupping her cheek lightly. She closed her eyes at the sensation, and then she felt herself being drawn forward, and her lips met his softly, slowly, securely. She was shocked and pleased and thrilled and a million other emotions that exploded inside her at the contact.
Then the vision faded, but she still felt his lips on hers, almost calling her deeper into the dream. A thousand pieces of a puzzle she hadn't been able to put together, suddenly flooded her mind. His lips held her in place, and her head pounded, the puzzle pieces flitting through quickly, surely, putting themselves back together again.
Haruhi awoke suddenly, sitting up so quickly, she hit her head against some object that was in front of her. The object groaned.
Her eyes flew open, and she sought the noise. There before her stood Tamaki, clutching his forehead in pain with his eyes closed. Her heart burgeoned within her at the sight, and she looked past him at the sudden movement of someone behind him. She recognized Arianne, now putting the puzzle pieces together into a coherent pattern.
He relaxed into his mother's touch as she pried his hands from his forehead. And as he opened his eyes, Haruhi gasped. The beautiful violet orbs from her dreams now met her own brown ones, and she felt herself flooded with a hundred different emotions. Realizing how she had been kidnapped and now knowing why, she felt intense relief and gratitude at how he had rescued her, for the umpteenth time.
Mistaking the look in her eyes for confusion, Tamaki waved his mother away and sat in the chair opposite the bed, staring at her sadly as he said, "I"m sorry, I shouldn't have done that. You just seemed so tense and frustrated, and you were thrashing about. I couldn't get you to stop, and you looked so beautiful so I kissed you."
She almost laughed, realizing now that the lips she'd felt in her dream had been real. They had guided her back to him. But he was babbling again, "I know you don't remember me, and I'm so sorry for doing that. I just couldn't help it. I mean, we used to do it all the time." He stopped here and blushed profusely under her skeptical gaze. She nearly laughed again. "Er-well, not all the time, but a lot of the time, and I was so worried about you. I couldn't sleep, and I didn't eat much. We looked for you and tried to figure out the clues, and it was just so frustrating and-"
"Shh," she stopped him, smiling softly at him. She didn't say his name for she wanted to surprise him. "Come here," she told him, patting the bed beside him.
Tamaki stood up, looking uneasy, while Arianne looked on, bemused. He stepped over to the bed and sat down gingerly, keeping a slight distance between Haruhi and himself.
She managed to push herself up into a sitting position with his help, but he retracted his hands from her much too quickly for her liking. She smirked at him now, and he gulped audibly, pulling a chuckle from his mother. Haruhi reached a hand forward and touched his arm slightly, mimicking the rubbing motions she often used on him when they were together.
His eyes widened and seemed to lose focus slightly, causing her to giggle a bit. They snapped back to attention, however, when she cupped his cheek gently, pulling him towards her. He resisted for a moment, staring confusedly into her eyes before she took the initiative and pulled him harder into a searing kiss.
Tamaki was hesitant at first, which Haruhi understood, so she simply pressed her mouth harder against his. Knowing the way he normally kissed her, she decided to show him that she was herself again. She opened her mouth slightly and let her tongue slip out slightly, barely brushing against his lips.
This surprised him so much, he jerked and opened his mouth in shock, trying to get far enough away to stare at her. But Haruhi would have none of it. Putting her hand around his neck, she used the break in the kiss to slant her mouth over his still-open one, licking his lips first in a slow, teasing motion, and then easing her tongue into his mouth.
She could feel it the moment he understood what was happening. His arms suddenly wrapped around her, holding her in place against him as one hand tightened against her waist and the other weaved lightly through her hair.
Now his tongue moved against hers, meeting hers like a long-lost mate finally come home. She shivered at his touch, and he thrust his tongue into her mouth when she allowed him access.
They broke the kiss a moment later, gasping for breath and staring at one another in shock. Haruhi finally got ahold of herself and pecked him lightly on the cheek, smiling softly at him.
"Thank you, Tamaki," she said, eyes suddenly wet with tears as the enormity of the situation reached her. "You've saved me so many times; thank you."
She wiped at a tear that trailed down her cheek and tried to avoid his gaze, suddenly embarrassed. He chuckled at her and put a hand under her chin, tilting her head up to look at him.
"I should be thanking you, Haruhi," he told her sincerely, eyes also wet with unshed tears. He trailed a finger down the path of her tear and said, "You've given me something priceless, and I could never thank you enough for it."
She was puzzled and asked him, "What have I given you?" Her voice was a whisper, and she trembled slightly under the heat of his gaze.
He smiled gently, leaned closer so that his lips brushed against hers, grinning at the shiver that ran down her spine. "You've given me a chance to love you," he told her simply. And then his lips were on hers again, and she felt like she'd come home at last.
When they broke apart this time, Tamaki was so close to her she could feel his heartbeat against her breast. The clearing of a throat reminded them they were not alone, and they turned, still in one another's arms, to see Arianne watching them with an amused smile.
Haruhi blushed, but she could see the tears in Arianne's eyes and knew the woman was not angry. Arianne looked from Haruhi to her son and then said, "I don't believe you could have chosen a better woman, Tamaki. You two are a beautiful couple, and I'm so happy for you both!"
Tamaki let go of Haruhi to reach out to his mother. Arianne took his hand, and he pulled her onto the bed with them. Haruhi reached out and arm to the woman who had been so kind to her despite the circumstances they found themselves in; she hugged Arianne with one arm while Tamaki did the same on the other side. The three began to laugh and cry together, laughing more as they saw one another's tears.
"Ahem," came a rather stern voice, and they pulled apart to see Kyouya standing in the doorway, Yuzuru and Ranka behind him. He walked in at Tamaki's nod, and they saw Renge, Reiko, Hunny, and Mori behind them.
"I take it you are much improved, Haruhi?" Kyouya asked dryly with a smirk as he gazed pointedly at her hand, which was interlocked with Tamaki's now.
She blushed and said, "I am, Kyouya-senpai, thank you for asking."
He smiled at her, a genuine smile, and said, "Good. I'm glad to hear it-"
"Ha-ru-chan!" Hunny's childish voice interrupted the other man, and she grinned when he launched himself at the bed, avoiding Arianne barely and knocking Tamaki slightly to the side. He hugged her tightly, and she returned the hug, enjoying having her memories back.
Ranka was the next to speak, rushing to the bed and jumping on it behind Hunny, who moved away when he heard Ranka say, "Oh Haruhi! Daddy's here now! Are you all right?"
Haruhi smiled at her father and nodded. He burst into tears and cradled her in his arms, Haruhi returning the awkward hug and grinning abashed at her friends.
Ranka might have continued crying and holding her for ages if it weren't for Tamaki's question to his father. "Where is she?"
She looked up, knowing who he referred to. As she did so, Ranka's arms loosened, and he pulled away from her solemnly.
Yuzuru surveyed the ones on the bed and then answered his son. "She's dead."
Arianne gasped, horrified, and Haruhi's eyes widened as Tamaki asked, "What? How?!"
"She realized that your father was going to have her contract broken with Suou Industries and decided to try to run away," Kyouya explained. "She tripped on the stairs and fell down them. I believe she broke her neck. The maids are seeing to her now."
Tamaki's face paled, but Arianne stood up and looked at Yuzuru as she said, "I'll go see to her. She'll want her dignity intact, I'm sure." Yuzuru nodded at her, and their eyes lingered on one another for a moment before the woman turned and made her way out of the room.
"I don't understand," Haruhi finally said, "why she did all this. I know why she kidnapped me. I'm just a poor commoner, not fit for anyone of Suou blood." Tamaki balked at this, but she grabbed his hand to silence him. "But why would she kidnap Renge and the others? It doesn't make sense."
"She said it had something to do with shibboleths, Haruhi," Ranka told his daughter, nodding sagely despite looking a little silly.
She mused for a minute before saying, "Again, that makes sense for me, and even for Arianne, because she wouldn't have stood up to the shibboleth that is the Suou name and power. But Renge isn't a commoner. Neither is Reiko or any of the others Renge told me about. They all have names and power, even if they're not equal to the Suou name."
Kyouya explained, "That's just it, Haruhi. She elevated the Suou name in her mind far above the rest of the world. In her delusional world, Suou Takako saw the Suous as being royalty, just as her name can be interpreted to mean noble child. And she was furious with Yuzuru-san and Tamaki for sullying that name with anyone not on their level."
He continued when she nodded in comprehension, "She kidnapped the others for reasons similar to that; though, she also had some ulterior motives. For example," he said, "she kidnapped Reiko because she is engaged to Hunny-senpai."
Reiko and Hunny turned stunned eyes to Kyouya as the rest of the group stared at the couple in surprise. Mori, it seemed, was the only one who was not surprised by this news or the fact Kyouya knew it.
"Congratulations, Reiko-chan!" Renge said, smiling broadly and grabbing her friend in a hug. Reiko seemed a bit hesitant at first but then returned the hug, murmuring her thanks.
"But how did you know, Kyou-chan?" Hunny finally asked his friend, looking amusedly puzzled.
"I have my ways," the black-haired male said, glasses flashing. The familiarity of his look and statement caused the friends to laugh at such a normal thing.
"How can you be laughing at a time like this?" The female voice shrieked from the doorway brought the laughter to an abrupt halt. Beppe and Eclaire entered the room, followed by Toru, Kanako, Hideyo, Kaoru, and Hikaru.
Eclaire glared at the ones in the room, her brows raised when she saw the intimate position of Tamaki and Haruhi. "Suou Takako is dead, there are police at the door, a man has been brought into the house in handcuffs, and you're all here laughing?!" Her voice had escalated to a high-pitched wine towards the end, and Beppe put a soothing hand on her back, trying to calm her down.
"Who's been brought in, Eclaire?" Yuzuru asked her, looking surprised.
Beppe answered for her. "The police said his name was Fredricks and that his was working for Suou-san. They said he turned himself in this morning and told them about a plot against us, Renge, and Haruhi."
"They're asking what happened to your mother, Yuzuru-san," Hikaru added, eyes dark. "They think there's some sort of foul play and are demanding to see you."
"I suppose we should go get things worked out then," Yuzuru said, sighing heavily before standing and beckoning to the others to do the same. As a group, they left the room, Tamaki and Haruhi falling in behind the rest, and they went to the foyer to find the chaos that had taken over the once quiet room.
Hours later, they had sorted things out with the police. Takako was taken to the funeral home, and most of the maids had been put to work helping the cooks put together a full meal to celebrate the rescue of Renge and Haruhi.
It turned out that Fredricks was a man Takako had engaged for various bits of subterfuge in the past, including a plot to end Arianne's father's life. He'd backed out of that plan because he refused to murder, but he was guilty of various other crimes through Takako's leadership. The police had charged him with theft, embezzlement, bribery, and a host of other crimes before taking him away.
Kyouya helped explain more about Takako's shibboleth by telling the group the reason for the abductions. According to him, Takako had Reiko kidnapped because she did not embody the air of one who should be given a position of power, even if that only came in the form of a marriage to an heir. It dawned on them that Takako extended some of her shibboleth ideas to the rest of the host group once she realized Tamaki would never abandon his friends.
Thus, she believed Reiko to be of little worth to the Haninozukas and wanted to dispose of her. Her reasoning for kidnapping Renge, it turned out, was similar.
"You mean to tell me that she thought Renge was a threat to someone's name?" Hikaru asked, looking puzzled at Kyouya, who had brought up the idea inadvertently.
By this time, half the room seemed to be in on some joke that none of the others understood. Kaoru looked at them and wondered what they knew that he didn't. Echoing his brother, he asked, "But who in the world could she be with? I mean, Haruhi's with Tamaki, Reiko's with Hunny-senpai. Mori-senpai doesn't date, and we're single."
Hikaru took up his brother's train of thought, not noticing the smirks on the faces of his friends or the look of dawning comprehension on his brother's. "And that only leaves... Kyouya-senpai, and why on earth would she want to be with the low blood pressure demon lord?!"
"Because I'm in love with him," Renge's voice suddenly said, and everyone watched as she stood from her chair and walked over to where Kyouya leaned against the hearth. Before anyone else could say anything, she grinned at the twins and said, "And we're getting married." Then she kissed him hard, and the twins' jaws dropped as they watched their former schoolmate return the kiss rather enthusiastically.
Looking at one another, the twins' expressions caused the rest of the room the laugh uproariously.
After some more talk and lots of debating, the group discovered that Kyouya had begun dating Renge seriously after he got into college. He'd managed to seduce her during his last year in Ouran, but she realized his trick and blew up at him, which gave him pause. Then he'd tried to purposefully flirt with her, using some of his charm and intelligence to win her over. He asked her out on his graduation day.
"And all of this went on under our noses," Haruhi mused, smiling at the couple who now sat together on the loveseat.
"Kyouya mon ami is good at that," Tamaki reminded her, squeezing her hand from where they say on the couch. He smiled at her and then asked a question that had been plaguing him. "But I don't understand why she thought Renge was so important to kidnap, especially since she kept her here with Haruhi. She must have had some other reason."
Kyouya exchanged glances with Renge, who nodded and smiled encouragingly. "We didn't want anyone to know, but KO has been on the loose buying up stocks again," he began, watching their expressions. Tamaki, surprisingly enough, caught on first, nodding in comprehension and beckoning him to continue. "My father wasn't too pleased when he realized KO was diversifying into other companies' stocks besides his own. So he began a deliberate campaign to force KO back to an arena he could control.
"But what he didn't count on was RH joining the bidding and giving KO a disguise," he continued. "So under the guise of newcomer RH, KO continued bidding and gaining control of various smaller companies one by one. Eventually I discovered a plot against the Houshakujis, and RH was able to successfully avoid the plot by convincing the Houshakujis to liquidate into KO Industries."
Haruhi's eyes were huge as she and Tamaki realized what had happened. Some of the others were in similar states of surprise, but those like Reiko and the cousins, and even Yuzuru, seemed to have anticipated this course.
"You're all thinking it, so we might as well be blunt," Renge pointed out, elbowing Kyouya inelegantly in the ribs. He gave her a mock glare but acquiesced to his pretty fiance with a smile. "You see," she said in explanation, "Takako-san was trying to sabotage my father's company for some unknown reason. And Kyouya developed the plan that led to my father liquidating but doing it quietly. Everyone believes he's at the head of a company that's going down in smoke, but the truth is that Kyouya left him to manage and has been feeding the company money and resources to help build it back up out of his own companies. We've allowed the rumors to continue because we didn't want any of this business to get out to the public just yet."
"And with the addition of Houshakuji Industries to my own holdings," Kyouya added, "I have gathered enough ammunition against my father to take what I own of Ootori Zaibatsu and leave him. I no longer need to be made the heir because I can essentially control the rest of the businesses through my shares as KO and RH."
Now that the truth was out, the group was surprised and in awe of how the entire story had played out. Looking around the room, they realized that so much had happened right under their noses, and they began to understand the beauty of this tale.
Hunny and Reiko were officially engaged, and the story would be released to the public in a month's time. They would marry within the next year. Kyouya and Renge were not technically engaged, but Kyouya had the plan for how it would play out. Mori would be taking over as heir of his family's company as would the twins. Kaoru was slated to run his mother's fashion business while Hikaru planned to handle his father's computer business. Everyone knew the two would work together, though. And Tamaki had rescued his Haruhi, hopefully for the last time.
The group decided to stay in France for a time and spent the night at the manor before moving to one of Renge's beach homes. Everyone was invited, and even Beppe and Eclaire joined them in their merrymaking. The two were thrilled to have gotten out of their predicament, and by the end of the week, they had run off to elope, thwarting both their families in the process.
Arianne was released from her duties by Renge and was sufficiently well enough to travel to the beach home, which she did. She spent most of her time catching up with Yuzuru and Tamaki. The three were enjoying being a family again, even though they were very untraditional. She spent time with Haruhi as well, getting to know the woman she expected to have as a daughter-in-law soon.
The little group stayed a week in France. Renge remained a bit longer to spend time with her father, who was pleased to hear all about the engagement and her plans with Kyouya. The rest of them returned to Japan to get their lives back together.
Three months later, Tamaki, Haruhi, and the others received an invitation to Toru and Kanako's wedding. It was a lovely affair, and they thoroughly enjoyed themselves.
Haruhi and the twins graduated, Haruhi with highest honors. At the graduation reception, Tamaki managed to snatch Haruhi up for a walk around the grounds to remember Ouran by.
She held his hand and laughed with him as he meandered around the grounds, eventually settling on the path through the maze. Haruhi recognized it as the one they'd gone down when they were playing hide and seek. He led her straight to the gazebo, and she gasped.
In the dusky light, it was beautiful, full of hanging lanterns and candles. There was a table inside that had an exquisite bouquet of blood red roses, and she rushed inside to smell them. She glanced down and saw the card that had her name on it. Pulling it out, she began to read.
Dear Haruhi,
You have always been my shibboleth, the one word in my heart that could save me from destruction. I can't imagine anyone else being the catalyst that would bring me to this point in my life. Like the shibboleth of the Gileadites, you are the one that I need to bring me back from the edge of death. Without you, there is no me.
You are the only one for me, and I love you dearly, deeply, and desperately. I can't imagine my life without you as a part of it. Now that you've graduated, I know you'll be able to go off and live your life the way you always wanted to, without the influence of the host club, without me. But, Haruhi, if you have come to the same realization that I have, then I want you to know two things.
First, I love you, Haruhi. Not as a father with his daughter or a friend. I love you as a husband loves his wife and desire you more than any other person or thing on earth. Believe that, Haruhi.
Second, if you would consent to it, I would be incredibly honored if you would consent to becoming my wife. I want you in my life now and always, and you are the only one worthy of this Suou. Please, Haruhi... if you're willing, turn around...
Her eyes filled with tears as she read the card, and she turned with shaking hands to face the man she loved. She looked up for him, but he wasn't there. She glanced down and pressed her hands to her mouth when she saw him kneeling before her. His hand was lifted, holding an opened box with a beautiful diamond ring in it. He smiled at her hopefully.
"Haruhi?" He asked, catching her eyes. "Will you marry me?"
She couldn't speak, she could only hold out her hand and cry, tears of joy coursing down her cheeks. Tamaki gently pulled the ring from the box and slid it onto her finger. When he stood up, she could wait no longer and pulled him into a long, lingering kiss. They broke apart to the cheers of family and friends as people began pouring out of the maze to join them in and around the gazebo. Staring around, Haruhi had to admit to one thing.
Suou Takako made a shibboleth of status and power, feeling that strength in a name would increase strength in a person. Haruhi and Tamaki, she knew, were different. Their shibboleth was and always would be... love.
-The End-
A/N: Well, there you have it... the end of the story. There will be an epilogue out shortly, probably this week or perhaps in two weeks. I go on vacation Saturday, but I promise to have the epilogue out before the end of June! I hope you enjoyed some of the romantic bits, even if they weren't what you expected, and be looking for more of that in the epilogue. As for the kiss scene between Tama and Haru... I just kind of made that up based on other things I've read. (I've never been kissed, so I'm not a good judge of kissing... thus, I don't usually write it.) I hope it wasn't too weird or awkward or what have you.
If you've hung around this long, I'd be thrilled to hear what you think of the story, the conclusion, etc. I love all the reviews I've received, and I thank you all for sticking it out with me. Be looking forward to the epilogue, and then the story will truly be over for our friends. Thanks again to everyone who's read and reviewed, favorited and alerted, and I hope you enjoyed the chapter!
Until next time...
-Rae-