Hey, people! Wanna let you know that the fic will be ending soon (probably 3-4 chapters more)...

Partially sad and partially happy about it... :S

Anyway, thanks so much for the comments! Really appreciate them as they have managed to get me through the times I have had writer's block.

Thank you, skyfire.k-rainwhisper.s, for the long comments. Hope you will be able to complete what you are writing! ^^ Ganbatte!

Chapter 21: Home

The door crashed open and the occupants of the room nearly jumped out of their skin at the loud sound. One of them relaxed when they saw who the intruder was. Lia panted as she walked into the room, her eyes darting from the faces of the various people in the room before coming to settle on the face of the woman lying down in the bed.

"How is she?" Lia asked, her heart nearly breaking when she saw the wires and tubes that were connected to her mother and to other machines.

"She will be fine, sister," James said, placing a hand on her shoulder. But Lia shrugged off his hand, looking at him coldly.

"I was not asking you that question," Lia said to him coldly. She looked at the nearest doctor and asked, "How is she?"

"She will be fine," the doctor replied. "We are waiting for the results of her blood test to come back before we can tell you anything. So far, I would say she is overworked and would require to rest. She is just tired and perhaps not eating well."

"Of course," Lia replied. "Thank you, doctor."

The doctor nodded and smiled before walking out, the rest of the nurses and doctors following him out. She waited until the door closed before turning and going to the bed, sitting on the chair that was there. She picked up her mother's hand and stroked it, feeling guilty at the thought that she may have been the cause of her mother's collapse.

James watched her, unsure of what to say. Finally, he said, "The doctors don't think it is anything serious… She should be discharged by tomorrow. Why don't you go back to your job?"

"And leave you to look after her?" Lia spat, looking at her brother coldly. "You can't even look after yourself! What makes you so sure I will leave you to look after mother? Why don't you go back to work? That is if you even have a job!"

James stared at her, shocked at what she had said. Then, the shock was replaced by anger. He said, "Just because I can't look after myself well does not mean that I won't be able to look after mother. Have you ever thought that if you hadn't gone to that stupid high school that she wouldn't have collapsed? She slaved her butt off just so that you could go to that fancy high school and have the 'dream' life that is so much better than ours! Since you think yourself so competent in looking after her, I will leave you to it then!"

He stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him as he did so. Lia glared at the door and then turned back to look at her mother. Men! She seemed to be having problems with them today. First, Kyoya and now James.

Kyoya… she thought, burying her head into her hands. Her heart ached at the thought of him. He betrayed her. Just like how her father had betrayed her. Men… They just couldn't be trusted. They always loved to abandon her in her time of need.

She looked back up at her mother, stroking the hair back from her face. Since when did she have so many gray strands of hair? Since when did she have so many wrinkles on her face? Lia murmured, "I am sorry… Maybe it is time for me to wake up from this fairy tale now." She covered her mouth as she sobbed for her mother, for her father. But most of all for Kyoya.

"When did you arrive?" Yuzuru asked as he poured a cup of tea for his friend.

"About an hour ago," Matthew replied. "It's good to see the school is still as it was before. I vaguely recall you saying that you wanted to remake it and get rid of all the ancient furniture."

"That is true," Yuzuru laughed. "But I find that all the antique furniture can bring back nostalgic memories." Then, his expression became serious. "Why are you here, Matthew? I know you well enough to know this visit is for pleasure."

There was silence for a while before Matthew finally said, "I am here to bring my family back home with me."

"Watch out!" someone shouted. But it was too late and the sound of glass falling to the ground and breaking could be heard.

Kyoya barely registered the burning sensation as the pot of hot tea soaked through his uniform and onto his skin. Haruhi looked up at him with a slightly stunned expression on her face and Kyoya could guess what she was thinking. He could feel the eyes of everyone on his back. It was the first and only time that he was so clumsy in front of everyone.

"Clean up the mess, Haruhi," Kyoya said, turning around. He bowed to the customers and said, "I am sorry for this temporary disturbance. Please continue what you are doing." He hurried off to the changing room, pulling off his shirt and jacket, tossing them aside as he dug through his second locker for the spare uniform he kept there. He heard the door open but did not need to look to know who was there. There were very few elite who had the constant smell of cakes and cookies on them.

"Kyo-chan," Hunny said, softly. "Are you alright? Did something happen between you and Lia-chan?"

"It's nothing, Hunny-senpai," Kyoya said, buttoning his shirt. "Please return to what you were doing. The customers are waiting."

"Alright…" Hunny said quietly, leaving the room.

Kyoya threw his jacket over one shoulder and closed his locker. He stood there, with one hand on the locker, for a while. Then, he leaned his head on the locker. What was wrong with him? What was this feeling of doom that he was getting?

Yuzuru watched Matthew, trying to see whether there was any hint that what his friend had just said was a joke. But there was no such thing. His friend looked serious about what he had said. Yuzuru took a sip from his cup of tea before he finally asked, "Are you sure that is wise, Matt? You know what would happen if you bring Hayasaka-san and your children back with you. Don't let the same thing happen to them as what is happening to my son."

"But, Yuzuru, you see…" Matthew said quietly, his eyes on the floor. "I have received my mother's permission to bring them home with me." Finally he looked up, his eyes meeting with Yuzuru. "I did it… After years of patience and labour, I finally did it. I can bring them home with me!"