A/N: Chika won the poll by a landslide victory. So I will be working on that story and you should start to see the first chapter this weekend. I believe it will be 2 chapters, but I've been known to be wrong before about my counts. LOL. For this story, I want to say thank you to all of my readers and welcome to my new ones. You are why I write my fanfictions! .3, suggested a scene where Kirimi comes up to the hospital, and while I had not been planning to write one, I thought it would be perfect for the story. So that will be put in an upcoming chapter! Enjoy!

Chapter 14 – Visiting

As much as Haruhi loved her friends, and she truly did, the last thing she actually wanted to have to deal with today was her friends – especially three certain friends. Tamaki, Hikaru, and Kaoru meant well, she knew they did, however, feeling the way she did, she didn't want to deal with the bickering or the overenthusiastic personalities. And while it was true that Hunny could be just like them, he seemed to have the maturity to know when to back off and sit quietly…most of the time.

The moment Kyoya had informed her of the hosts' arrival, she cringed inwardly already picturing in her mind what would happen. Tamaki would shout and run up to her, crushing her in his arms. Hikaru and Kaoru would tease him, call her their toy, and try to pull her away from him – and considering it was two against one, Tamaki was surprisingly strong. Hunny would offer her cake and maybe cry, and Mori would pat her head. Hunny and Mori she could deal with, however, she was not up for the other three. She just...she loved them, but didn't have it in her to deal with them right now.

"Ready?" Kyoya asked before he opened her room door.

"Do I have a choice?"

"Not especially."

"Then why ask?" she deadpanned.

"I was merely being polite," he smirked and pushed her door open before wheeling her into the room.

Bracing herself for the hugs of all hugs, she closed her eyes and prepared herself to be glomped…only nothing ever happened. Slowly, she peeled her eyes opened and found five faces staring at her as if she was some sort of stranger or alien. This wasn't normal. This wasn't right. Was something wrong? Did she have food on her face, did she look like utter crap, or was there something else wrong? "Hi guys," Haruhi spouted nervously. Maybe if they heard her voice, they would snap out of it. She braced herself again. Nothing came. While she might not have been ready to actually deal with them, she didn't like this. Tilting her head to the side, she asked, "What's wrong?"

"You…" Hikaru started and looked to his brother when he had been unable to finish.

Kaoru knew he needed to speak for him and his brother, but when he opened his mouth to say something, nothing came out. Each time he opened his mouth, he was unable to speak the words that were on his and his brother's minds. His gaze fell upon Tamaki who looked as if he was using everything within him to hold himself back - probably because he didn't want to end up in the hospital's version of jail again – however, if he and his brother couldn't speak on behalf of the group, maybe he could. Nudging the blond, Kaoru tried to get him to talk instead.

"Wha…Oh…" Tamaki's eyes turned from Kaoru to Haruhi once again. She looked bruised and battered, but unlike the last time he saw her, she was awake. She was awake and yet, he still felt shocked and rooted to his spot. Words failed him for the first time in his life. Never before had he not been able to say what he wanted to, never before had he been at a loss for words, and never before did he want to pull her in his arms and never let go as much as he did right now. The urge was so strong, but he couldn't move. He was frozen where he stood, and it wasn't that he was afraid of what Kyoya would do to him, it was more about the fact that he felt like if he took one step on his jelly like legs, he would fall flat on his face. The relief at seeing her awake and alive…caused his emotions to overpower him and his body's responses.

The shortest of the hosts was the first to step forward and pull Haruhi into a gentle hug, afraid of hurting her, "Are you all right, Haru-Chan?"

Haruhi could hear the tears in Hunny's voice, could feel the drops as they landed on her shoulder making her want to cry with him…and she wasn't sure why. "I'm fine, Hunny-senpai. Nekozawa-senpai saved me," her last couple of words were spoken in a breathless whisper filled with awe, her voice cracking ever so slightly. It was still hard for her to believe that everything that happened had really happened. She had been kidnapped and tied to a bed, and then her fellow prisoner ignored his own wounds and saved her. Just thinking about it made her body start to shake and the tears fill her eyes, but she still refused to spill them. "I'm fine," she repeated, but was she trying to convince her friends or herself?

There was something about hearing that small tremor in her voice that seemed to snap everyone out of their hampered state. In the next instant, three bodies flew towards her and a group hug commenced; and the force of them landing on the patient, sent the locked wheelchair backwards a couple of inches right into Kyoya, and they didn't notice until…

"Are you three quite done acting like fools?" Kyoya demanded.

"How can you say that, Kyoya-senpai?" Hikaru sniffled having started to cry somewhere between where he had been standing and hugging Haruhi.

Nodding, Kaoru agreed with his brother, "We're only comforting our toy!"

This got Tamaki hackles up and he grabbed the girl a little tighter and tried to drag her away from the others as he yelled – right in her ear, "How could you treat her like that?! She is not a toy! Mommy, I demand these two be barred from this room!"

"You can't do that, boss! Right…mommy?" The twins stated simultaneously holding each other and smiling nefariously.

"I am her father and I can do…!" His rant was cut off when another entered the room.

"Who exactly is her father? Hmm?" Ranka had just returned from gathering a few things from the house and heard the blond idiot starting to spout nonsense. His eyes narrowed in a murderous glare towards Tamaki, "Weren't you locked up for behaving like a baka? If anyone needs to be barred from the room, it's you!"

And this is what Haruhi had been expecting, anticipating…and her head hurt from being caught in the middle of it all. Was it bad that in that moment she wished for nothing more than to be alone with Nekozawa again? Maybe not under the control of would be kidnappers and killers, but to be in the quiet darkness with him knowing that he was there and they were together. Something told her that as long as he was there, nothing would harm her…then or now. "Stop it," she pleaded softly. Her head was starting to throb as the twins' teasing of their former president increased, Ranka yelled at Tamaki, and Tamaki whined that everyone was ganging up on him while at the same time trying to explain his position to Ranka once again. Everything felt like it was closing in on her, and she couldn't explain why.

Kyoya could see the beginning stages of distress on Haruhi's face and ordered, "Tamaki, release her."

"But mommy, our daug...I mean Haruhi doesn't mind it when I hold her like this!"

"Ha-ha! The boss got schooled! You got to let her go and we'll hang onto her!" Hikaru teased and tried to pull Haruhi away from the blond.

"This is just typical un-princely behavior from our prince," Kaoru joined in.

"You got that right!"

Hunny could see that something was wrong with the girl and cried, "Haru-Chan, are you all right?"

Mori had been standing back and allowing things to happen as they normally did, and like normal when things crossed the line, he would step in. Seeing the distress on Haruhi's face, he grabbed her away from everyone and gently carried her to her bed and laid her down in it. Turning back to the others, he said, "Kyoya told you to release her."

Adjusting his glasses, the Shadow King nodded, "Thank you, Mori-senpai. I believe we have already had this discussion, but no one is supposed to manhandle Haruhi. If you cannot follow this rule, none of you will be permitted to stay."

"We only hugged her like Hunny-senpai," the twins declared.

"Did not!" Hunny yelled, his fists at his side as he took a menacing step towards the twins, who then ducked for cover behind Tamaki. They would have probably gone behind Mori, but the way he was glaring, they were afraid of him as well.

Kyoya crossed his arms over his chest, "And then tried to play tug-o-war with Tamaki. Tamaki, would you like to return to your cell?"

"NO, MOMMY!" The blond screamed.

"Then start treating her as you would a Fabergé Egg. Hikaru, Kaoru, stop antagonizing him. Next time it happens, all three of you will not be able to see Haruhi until she is released from the hospital, and only then if Ranka permits you inside his home." The trio being threatened gasped in fear once Kyoya finished his lecture.

The thought of anyone treating her as if she was about to break annoyed Haruhi, and yet, when it came to this bunch, it was probably the best simile to use. If not, they might accidentally injure her more than she currently was. "I'm fine guys, really," she tried to brush off the anxiety that was assaulting her.

"Oh my dear baby!" Ranka rushed to her bedside, "Are you sure? We can tell everyone to go home if you aren't up for a visit today."

"I'm fine, dad," she reiterated.

To Kyoya's ears, it sounded suspect. So far the only word she used to describe herself was "fine", but based on the trauma she had been through, he knew she wasn't exactly "fine".

"So were you really kidnapped with Nekozawa-senpai?" Hikaru inquired. He, like the others, had heard that much from Kyoya, but the Shadow King had not fully elaborated on the tale.

"Yeah, and he is the one that saved me. If it wasn't for him…" her voice trailed off not wanting to go into detail.

"If it wasn't for him…what?" Tamaki pressed, grabbing her hand and holding it tightly on the opposite side of the bed from Ranka.

His hand felt wrong. His fingers were slimmer, longer, the nails perfectly manicured and clean. Nekozawa's hands had a little bit of black around the cuticles…probably from a potion or from being locked up during their kidnapping. His nails were still short, but they weren't as manicured, and there were little scars and marks on the back of his hands. Possibly old burns or wounds. Could Tamaki have untied the ropes that bound her if he had been with her instead of Nekozawa? Would he have remained calm and even when he was on the verge of passing out or hurting, would he have dragged himself to her and released her, thought about her before himself? As much as she loved Tamaki and the others, she honestly didn't know. She would like to think they would have, and yet, she couldn't say for sure. So many times, they were selfless, and then other times, they were so self-absorbed it was a wonder they could run a successful club. They were her best friends, dear to her heart, and she probably knew them better than most; and yet, she couldn't say for certain how they would have behaved in that situation. Then again, until you were put in a life or death situation – and she was under no delusions that it was anything but life or death – no one knew how they would react. If it hadn't been for Nekozawa, she would have been lost.

"Haruhi?" Tamaki asked in a softer, gentler tone.

"If it hadn't been for senpai, I don't know if I would have been found by Kyoya as soon as I was," she opted to give them a partial truth. It was true though. If he hadn't helped her out of the room and pushed her out the window, she was positive Kyoya might not have found her or him in time.

"What are you talking about?" Hikaru asked.

Kaoru finished on a snicker, "He's the Shadow King. Of course he would have found you. He was probably already on his way to you."

Hunny furrowed his brow. They had actually not heard about anything that happened. Only that they had been kidnapped and Kyoya helped to find them. The way Haruhi spoke, there was a possibility they had been found separately. "Haru-Chan, what happened?"

"Hunny-senpai, we all said we would wait for questions!" The twins chastised their senior.

"Nekozawa-senpai just made it to where Kyoya found me first. That's all," she answered without really answering. She didn't want to talk about what happened. She wanted to forget the screams she heard after she first surfaced from the water…those haunting screams. She wanted to forget seeing all of those men ripped apart. So many things she didn't want to remember; and yet, she didn't want to forget the feel of Nekozawa's lips on her cheek, the way his voice sounded as he recited what could have been spells, or soft look in his eyes right before they parted ways.

Mori could tell a bond had been formed between the two victims, but truth be told, he had seen something akin to intrigue in her eyes from the day she had first met the weird Black Magic Club president. Nekozawa was weird and marched to the beat of his own drum, but he was a good man. "Haruhi, he will pull through," he said in hopes of reassuring his friend.

"I know, Mori-senpai. I know," she couldn't quite meet his eyes and stared down at her hands.

Silence descended upon the group. No one knew what to say. Haruhi seemed out of sorts, and even the twins knew it would be bad form to try and tease Nekozawa right now.

"Haruhi," Tamaki was the first person to attempt saying anything, "We are just really glad you are safe again. I…none of us…want anything bad to happen to you."

"I know, Tamaki-senpai. Thank you," she replied.

Before he could say anything else, Kyoya announced the end to visiting hours...at least for Haruhi. She looked like she needed to process some things and having the others around, did not help her. Once everyone had said their goodbyes and Ranka had run down to the cafeteria to get something to drink, he asked, "Can you talk about what happened yet?"

"With them?"

"No, only me."

"I don't know. I wasn't there that long. Nekozawa-senpai was in there longer. He's the one they kept torturing. They never laid a hand on me. I think he was afraid if they found out my gender something would happen to me."

"Be prepared, the others do want to know what happened, but I warned them that if you did not feel like talking, they were not allowed to force you."

A small smile appeared, "Thank you, Kyoya-senpai." She snuggled into her bed as best as she could in order to find a comfortable position and then asked, "Senpai, will he really be okay?"

"They still have him in a drug induced coma, but he appears to be healing well and will probably be allowed to come out of it soon." He studied her for a moment and said, "His thoughts were of you and saving you. His last word was your name. I think he will continue to fight to get better." There was still that small bit of uncertainty as to whether he should tell her that piece of information or not, but it almost seemed as if she needed something…something tangible.

Her face blossomed in a blush and she whispered, "Thank you. Can I sit with him again?"

"After you rest. Do you need anything?"

"No. Thank you again, senpai."

"There is nothing to thank me for. You were the one that helped us find him." He waited until he saw her eyes drift close and Ranka return before he left her. There was still a few questions he wanted answers to, and the email he had been waiting for had just arrived.

In another room...

Nekozawa's body was hurting and burning. What was happening? He was happy floating and not feeling pain, happy with Haruhi by his side. "Haruhi?" He called out to her, but he couldn't find her. Where was Beelzenef? He was missing too.

"Nurse, there's something wrong!" A voice called out.

Was that his mother? No, it couldn't be, could it? "Mother? Where are you?"