Chapter Twenty-Five: Treasure Map

Perhaps it was because she had been away from Host Club activities for a while, but it seemed to her that they had really outdone themselves this time. Kiiro took in the antique lamps that hung in between yards of cloths that had been affixed loosely to the ceiling. The canvases portraying abstract patterns beneath sconces with delicate, metal filigree atop them. The architecture of the room had even been modified to match that of classical Turkish interiors.

She cocked her head, "Kyouya, how on Earth are we meant to clean this up?"

He shrugged, "Well, it was our glorious leader's idea." he grinned, "So why don't we let him sort that out?"

She nodded, not about to complain about getting out of the work.

"Ano, Kiiro-senpai?" Haruhi called from the dressing room.

"Ne, Haruhi?" Kiiro joined her behind the curtain, it only took her one look to see why she was needed. The hood to her robe had gotten tangled in the coins that hung from her headwrap. With a chuckle Kiiro asked, "Now how did you manage that?"

"I don't know, things have been weird lately." she offered in explanation.

Kiiro began unknotting the tangles, careful not to tear the fabric- Kyouya would have her head for damaging any of the rented costumes, or worse.

"Still feeling sick?" she asked, recently Haruhi had been feeling out of sorts.

"Mhm." she answered with a slight nod, looking for a the world like a lost puppy.

Kiiro felt a twinge in her heart. After the last coin came loose she placed the back or her hand to her junior's forehead, then to her cheek, "You don't have a fever, but if you start feeling worse you should head home and get some rest, okay? It's not natural for someone to be ill for so long, and I'm sure your guests would understand."

"R-right. Thanks, Kiiro-senpai." Haruhi said with a tinge of pink to her cheeks, she left the dressing room.

"Haruhi!" Tamaki called, flitting over to her. "The guests are almost here, we have to get into position!" he smiled brightly.

Haruhi's blush deepened tenfold and she hurried over to where the rest of the boys posed.

And Kiiro grinned, because now it made sense, "Oh, Haruhi..." she whispered.

And she took a moment to watch the lot of them from behind the curtain as they greeted the herd of girls who entered. Hani who cheered with impossible sweetness beside Mori, who wore his own quiet smile in return. The Twins held hands as they explained how they were separate but still so close (until they were interrupted by Nekozawa, who had been called by Tamaki to add some fortune telling to their Turkish display). Haruhi and her new-found shyness that reappeared with a vengeance as Tamaki pestered her with questions about her health.

She shook her head, 'What a bunch of wonderful idiots I've fallen in line with.' she thought with a smile.

"Kiiro, why are you hiding in the dressing room?" Kyouya turned his head toward her. "If you're really that scared of Nekozawa-senpai, you can stay by me." he offered.

"I'm not scared." she stuck her tongue out at him, but she took a seat near where he stood all the same, "In truth, I was a bit lost in thought." she continued to watch as Tamaki chased Haruhi, neither really comprehending why she was running in the first place.

"So, you noticed it too, Kir-chan~?" Hani appeared at the other end of the table. Despite his innocent appearance, her senior was always especially adept at knowing what was going on,"What do you think, Takashi~?"

"..."

"That's right... like I thought, Haru-chan has been acting weird ever since then... I don't know what happened between her and Tama-chan but... it may be 'that'."

"It is 'that'," Kyouya contributed. "If you want proof, look." he gestured to the Twins, Hikaru looked furious, a dark, hateful aura materialized about him. "Hikaru is in a terrible mood."

Kaoru stood beside his brother, he held a stopwatch, "Hikaru, hold on."

The group observed the brothers silently as they stood completely still. Kiiro cocked her head utterly confused.

One minute passed.

Two minutes passed.

"Okay! Three minutes!" the two yelled. They charged after Tamaki.

After chasing him around for a while, they gave up, and Kaoru put 100 yen in a tanuki bank.

"What is this~? A bank~?" Hani skipped over to where they sat.

"I had this idea to fix Hikaru's short temper!" Kaoru beamed. "I have also decided on this name! 'If angry Hikaru can hold it in for three minutes, put 100 yen in the bank!' If we can save 100,000 yen, we can invite Haruhi over for ootoro!"

"Can he do that 1,000 times?" Kiiro speculated.

"Isn't 100 yen each time too cheap?" Kyouya added.

"How naive, Kyouya-senpai!" Kaoru pointed out. "For Hikaru to Haruhi turn around, it's no good if he doesn't do at least this much!" Hikaru looked shocked. "Because, at any rate, if Hikaru would confess now, he would definitely be rejected!" Hikaru was holding his heart, shielding it from his brother's stabbing words. "He may be more grown up than I thought, but he's a brat when it comes to socializing!"

"Kaoru! No matter how you look at it, you're saying too much!" Hikaru exploded.

"Since you got angry, I'll add a book to read to your assignment." Kaoru produced a little orange book.

Hikaru began reading immediately.

"You really are hard on him, Kao-chan."

"Kinda. It is the whip of love." he sighed. "More than that, the problem is Haruhi's attitude towards Tono. She's obviously conscious of him."

"Yes she is~."

"Conscious but oblivious." Kiiro mused.

"She said she had a 'cold'. Haruhi is unaware of it herself." Kyouya put a finger on his chin. "However slow she is, Haruhi isn't as stupid as Tamaki. There is a possibility that something will make her aware of it."

Nekozawa stood in front of Haruhi, "Fujioka-kun~. Something is troubling you, right~?"

"Huh?"

"I did some fortune telling with the Turkish coffee and I saw a heart shape as a result." he declared in his eery voice.

'Well, it might as well be Nekozawa-senpai.' Kiiro rested her head in her hand.

"You have, without a doubt, a love probl-"

Kaoru turned on a flashlight and angled it at Umehito.

"Gyahhhh! Too bright!" the cloaked senior wailed, retreating from the Music Room.

"Phew, that was close." the youngest twin wiped his brow.

"Kao-chan?"

"Why, that was a bit of a dirty trick." Kiiro raised an eyebrow at him.

"...You know... I am Hikaru's ally... but, I won't ignore Haruhi's will...so, if Haruhi loves Tono...and she becomes conscious of it, then I have no right to stop it."

"Kao-chan..." Hani frowned.

"But!" Kaoru raised his fist and yelled, "That's why it isn't necessary for an outsider to give her hints on purpose! That is certainly what I think!" his fiery spirit set him aflame. "Especially you two!" he pointed to Kyouya and Kiiro. "Kyouya-senpai and Kiiro-senpai! Just because you're on Tono's side doesn't mean you can give her unnecessary hints! Such as it is, I have no choice but to trust you to allow things to develop naturally!"

"I wasn't going to interfere." Kiiro scoffed, holding one hand over her heart and the other up.

"I think the one who disrupted the development earlier, was you." Kyouya pointed out. "Well, do whatever you want. There is a more important investigation I have to take care of. So, I am too busy anyway."

The next day, as Kiiro walked beside Kyouya to her homeroom, she heard the racket before she ran into it. This day as well began with Haruhi trying her best to avoid Tamaki, nervously shouting that she needed to go to the infirmary while he pleaded that if she was still ill she needed to go to the hospital. Kiiro rounded the corner just as Haruhi rushed past them, headed toward the school nurse.

"N-ne? Haruhi, are you okay?!" she called after the girl, who seemed to be in even worse shape than the day before.

Even thought the club quickly followed her, by the time they got to the nurse, Haruhi had already gone home early.

There was a bit of commotion later on in the day. Tamaki tried calling Haruhi's house but no one was home, so he assumed she had collapsed on the way back. He even left school early to go look for her. As it turned out, Haruhi had actually passed out but only after Tamaki had found her. With some help from Mei he was able to bring her home after a short, an unsurprisingly fruitless, trip to the hospital.

However chaotic the day had become, Kiiro was glad everything turned out all right in the end.

She was just getting out of the shower when she heard her cellphone ring.

"Unknown number?" she frowned, bringing it to her ear. "Moshi moshi."

"U-um, Kiiro-senpai?"

Kiiro brightened up, "Haruhi~!" she sang, but then she became grounded again, "How are you feeling, dear?"

"Ah, well, the truth is I'm feeling a lot better, but..." she trailed off.

"But...?"

"Well, um, there are a few questions I have and I was wondering if you wouldn't mind coming over to talk to me, if it isn't too late?"

"If it gets to be too late..." she hesitated. "Can I spend the night?"

"I have no problem with that." she answered. "My Dad will be home really late tonight."

Very calmly she replied, "...I'll be right over, okay?" she said her goodbyes and hung up, before literally leaping for joy.

She was entirely aware of her inadvertent victory over the Hitachiin brothers, but she was far too excited to care.

With more haste then ever before, she dressed, got her things ready and was out the door.

"So, what was it you wanted to talk about, Haruhi?" Kiiro sat beside the girl, who looked much more lively now that she had rest.

Haruhi had a determined look about her now, "Well, you see, about this illness... I read a magazine and... I think I'm in love."

Kiiro deadpanned, 'Leave it to Haruhi to need source material for love...' She smiled, "With Tamaki?"

She nodded slowly and asked, "You knew?"

"Honey, it was kind of obvious."

"Ah...was it?" she slumped.

Kiiro only grinned in response.

Haruhi's cheeks went pink, "Anyway, so that's why I was wondering... W-when I asked Mei-chan, she said that love never happens suddenly... And I had always thought it was only respect I had for senpai..."

She curled up, placing her chin on her knees, "Haruhi, I believe love can grow from respect, or friendship, and other things like that. I think almost all love starts as something else, actually."

"But if it's love, then...what do I do?" her junior furrowed her brow.

Kiiro had to laugh then, because she made it sound so serious, almost like she had caught some disease, "What do you mean?"

"Should I confess or would that ruin things...?" she looked so flustered.

Kiiro took her hands and held them together, "Haruhi, in all my experience with love- which is rather limited, mind you- you don't need to do anything, only the things you want to do, only the things you're comfortable with." she continued with a soft smile. "If you're not ready to confess, then don't. You're still so young, so there's no reason to rush into things."

Haruhi appeared to be lost in thought, before a small smile of her own crept across her lips, "Kiiro-senpai, you make it seem like you're a lot older than you are."

She slumped, "Oh? Maybe it's because the people we spend time with make me feel old." sitting back she added, "Not that I'm complaining, but it's a bit odd for you to call me over about this sort of subject, I would have thought that Mei-chan would be the more appropriate choice."

The younger girl only cocked her head, "Well, I did talk to her about it too, but I thought I would get a better perspective if I talked to someone who loved someone."

Kiiro rubbed the back of her head, 'Again with the source material...' but then she realized what that meant, "Ah, wait that means you..." she pointed.

Haruhi grinned, "Well, it was obvious, senpai."

By the next day Haruhi was back to normal, if anything she was more enthusiastic than ever before. Kiiro had called her driver to take them to school, and had gotten to use her bragging rights when the Twins whined about her visit to Haruhi's house. So all was well.

"Ne~ Kyouya, guess where I got to spend the night." she beamed as she found him in the courtyard.

He raised an eyebrow, "Going by your excitement, I'd have to say Haruhi's home."

"You can tell just by that?" she giggled, swiping her phone open, "I took a lot of pictures. This one's my favorite, it's what the sunrise looks like from a commoner's apartment." she began to babble.

"Is she feeling better, then?"

Kiiro nodded, "Yep, and well, it's because she figured it out. So..."

He looked a little surprised, "Well, that took far less time then I thought it would. Perhaps we didn't give her enough credit?" he smiled at her.

She smiled back, averting her eyes, "Definitely not."

"Are you kidding me? Is this really my costume? The customers won't be able to see my face!" Hikaru complained.

"We really can't see a thing in these, Hikaru." Kaoru whined.

"If you would just sit still for a second..." Kiiro griped, trying to get the zipper of Kaoru's costume unstuck from his shirt.

"Is this a fake beard~~? How do I put this on me~~?"

"I help you put this on, Hani-senpai. Mori-senpai, please put on this headband." Haruhi assisted.

"Okay."

"Tamaki! What are you doing? The others too, hurry up." Kyouya ordered. "It's almost time to welcome the customers..."

"Good afternoon everyone~!" the guests greeted as they opened the doors.

"We're still not ready~!" Hani cheered.

Kiiro finally fixed the younger twin's zipper and released him so he could rejoin his brother, 'Japanese Folklore...' she sighed. 'What an odd choice.'

Mori was dressed as Momotaro, the boy who sprung from a peach, parented by a childless elderly couple, who went on to kill ogres with his animal companions: a dog, played by Haruhi, a monkey, Hikaru, and a pheasant, Kaoru. While Hani was dressed as the old man from the tale Hanasaka Jiisan, who, with the help of his beloved dog, made withered trees bloom. And Kyouya was Urashima Taro, who saved a turtle, Tamaki, from a group of mean children and was rewarded with a three-day trip to the palace of a dragon king only to be returned 300 years later.

While the guests were figuring out who was who, Tamaki was busy sulking in the corner. Until, prompted by some giggling at his expense, he could take no more,

"Kyouya! What is the meaning of this?" Tamaki stood up, yelling, "Today's theme was supposed to be Russia! When did it change? Why did it change? Besides, why am I a turtle? I should have been Momotaro!"

Kyouya answered him with a lie, "Because no one can handle such a difficult role. I mean, properly entertaining your customers without using your beautiful features."

"They are currently laughing at me!" Tamaki waved his fins.

"Shut up, Tono!" Hikaru yelled from within the monkey suit. "At least people can see your face! You're better off than me! I am a monkey! A monkey!" he emphasized. "Both of us are in a costume but Kaoru is a gorgeous pheasant!" he pointed to his feathery brother. "It is so unfair!"

Kaoru said dully, "It is the difference in the charm we ooze, Hikaru."

"Calm down, animals." Kyouya nonchalantly brushed off their complaints. "In fact, I received an unusual proposal of a project a few days ago. I decided to adopt the plan in a trial way, to reward the enthusiasm of the proposer." he smiled. "Besides, things out of the ordinary are interesting, right? Especially if they don't cost much."

Tamaki retorted, "Even if it is out of the ordinary and the proposer is motivated, there isn't any point if we can't use our good looks!"

Hikaru followed up with, "He is right! He's right! Who planned such an unsophisticated project?"

The room was quiet and Haruhi removed her dog mask, her expression was horribly sad.

Kiiro stood between King and Hikaru and whispered, "Uh-oh, look at that face, you better apologize."

"Ha-Haruhi?" the two looked devastated.

"I... I am sorry." she put her paw to her mouth. "I kinda wanted to participate in the planning of the activities for once... Momotaro is just like Mori-senpai... Since Mori-senpai talks to animals." she looked up at Tamaki with her usual unknowingly cute look. "Does...does it bother you...to play the turtle's role...?"

Tamaki's face went red and he quickly shouted, "It...it doesn't bother me! Your decision doesn't bother me at all!" but, Haruhi wasn't paying attention.

She had turned to Hikaru, "I also apologize to you, since you have a problem with your role." she glanced down at the floor. "The monkey is always enjoying himself in a lively way. So I thought that you would be perfect for the role, Hikaru."

Hikaru's face went red this time, "It... It's perfectly fine with me! You're right! And, the monkey is very clever! Besides, if I think about it, it doesn't matter whether we are the dog, pheasant or monkey: we are the same! Momotaro's team!"

Kaoru added, "That's right! Let's host the customers. The three of us!"

"Well, I..."

"Haru-chan~! Haru-chan~!" Hani came along. "Haru-chan is Hanasaka gramps' dog, Pochi, right~?" he grabbed her paw and pulled her over to his table.

The twins fumed.

'Ah, an ambiguous role.'

"What happened to Haruhi?" Kaoru questioned. "She has been way more active after being stuck in bed because of her cold!"

"It is a good thing to be enthusiastic, but her bad sense is to be expected." his brother added.

Kyouya interjected, "Hey. It was the least bad out of those she proposed."

"Oh yeah, the takoyaki cosplay." Kiiro smirked.

"And, the sushi cosplay."

The turtle curled up, still red in the face, mumbling, "What should I do? She is so cute! No, she was already cute in the first place! By the way, what is the meaning of the delirious talk she had because of the fever that one time!"

His dreamy-speak effected the Twins immediately and they began to kick him around, "Hey turtle, don't get lost in your thoughts and get to work! You putting your huge body or rather your shell here is a bother!"

"W-what? Stop it!"

Kyouya halted them, "Hey, stop it kids! Don't bully the turtle."

'Acting out his role?'

Tamaki beamed, childlike, "Kyouya! You saved me!"

Kyouya smiled, "My rescuing fees are a treasure of gold of silver. Can you pay it to me in advance if possible?"

Tamaki commenced sulking.

'Did he really think Kyouya would do something nice for free?'

"Speaking of folktales, there are a lot of them where the main character is rewarded with treasure in the end~!"

"Haruhi, let's dig for something!" the Twins tried. "You are supposed to be the dog that digs for treasures!"

"It is excessive. If I had that sense of smell, I would of found my own way to Ouran with my own money long ago."

Somebody ran through the door, "Fujioka! Do you have a minute?"

"Casanova-kun?"

"Oh! Bossanova-chi, what's up?"

The first-year stood before Haruhi, with a urgent look about him, "In fact, I think it would be best to leave it to the Host Club," he stammered a bit. "The rest of the Gardening Club and I were digging up the back yard to make a new flower bed and..." he withdrew something from his pocket. "We found this!"

'Is that...'

"A treasure map?"

Everyone looked at Haruhi, "Ah, that's right..." she geared herself up, oddly enough playing Tamaki's part in getting involved with something odd. "Even... Even if we don't know whether or not the map is authentic, it would also be an experience! Let's try to decipher some of the enigmas right away!"

"First, let's decide how we share the work." Kyouya began looking over the map and the text that came with it. The Host Club, excluding Tamaki and including Kasanoda, stood around one of the tables in the library. "The text and map are both mentioned in this old book. We shouldn't be concerned with what we decipher first. As of now, we don't know if both are necessary. Mori-senpai, Haruhi and myself will work on the text. Hani-senpai and Kiiro, please work on the map with Hikaru and Kaoru. Kasanoda, you can work on whichever team you want."

"Then I will be in Fujioka's group."

"Roger~!" Hani laughed.

"What about Tono?" the Twins asked looking around.

"He will attend a meeting at the Rio Grande Hotel." Kyouya informed them.

"Again?" they frowned in unison.

"Yep." Kiiro sighed.

"Well, it can't be helped. Perhaps he will be even more absent from now on. You should understand his situation very well."

"...Somewhat..." Kaoru confessed as Team B walked off. "Even if we are having fun treasure hunting, if Tono isn't here it isn't really exciting."

"...Yeah." Hikaru sighed.

"Eh? How docile you are." Kaoru laughed. "Did you switch off your angry mode?"

"I'm surprised." Kiiro said sarcastically, helping Hani fetch books.

"Thinking about it," Kaoru continued. "...you have become calm around Haruhi."

"Yes~! And even with other people~! Has something happened~?" Hani asked.

"All of you just shut up!" Hikaru huffed. "...Well, soon, we will go on a class skiing trip, so Haruhi will be there. And, I don't understand why... Until now, I was certain that Haruhi was clearly conscious of Tono. But, if that's the case, then why... why did she give him the turtle's role... I wonder why...?"

They all began to laugh.

"So true!" Kaoru had tears in his eyes. "I really don't understand why either! It was definitely harassment!"

"You have to admit though, it was hilarious!" Kiiro tried to whisper.

"But, the turtle's role really fits him~!"

"And the Gramps wasn't a midget but she made Hani-senpai play his role! What bad sense!" Hikaru also had tears in his eyes.

There was a loud coughing sound that came from the Vice Principal behind them, a signal for them to be quiet. They immediately shut up.

"Well, anyway, it seems like Haruhi is motivated to try different things, even though I don't know why. And Tono is always busy." Hikaru stated. "...In this situation, I can also do my best to improve myself. That's what I think."

"Hikaru, you're so cool!" Kaoru beamed.

"Hika-chan~!"

"That is rather mature of you." Kiiro nodded.

The Vice Principal coughed again and they were quiet.

The lot of them stood around one table, looking over the map.

"The map dates back to the end of the Meiji Era. I am sure of it." Mori explained. "Here," he pointed to an empty area. "...it has become the university section of Ouran: the Ouran Vocational Training Schools. I heard that they were built near the North Building, where we currently are. I think the X symbol on this map is near the base of the hill on which Mitsukuni and Yasuchika had a duel before."

"Even if we reduce the search range it is still too wide~!"

"Seems like we will have to analyze the text to find some hints after all." Haruhi added. "I have understood that the part about "30 ken from the susuki." is important but..."

"I... I don't know where all the susuki grew in those times..." Kasanoda stated.

"Besides, some of the spots in this book are blurry." Kyouya pointed to the text. "At this spot, there is an accent on the right side of the 'ki' of 'susuki'. Can you see it?"

"Susugi?" Hikaru asked, pronouncing it. "What is that?"

"Ah! Susugi!" Haruhi had an epiphany.

"That's it! The old word that resulted in the derivation of 'sugi', Hikaru!" Kaoru snapped his fingers. "It's like the first kanji in 'susumi', lengthen it and get 'susugi'!"

"If it's the old word referring to cedar trees, then there are some at the back of the high school section!" Hikaru announced.

In the middle of all of this, Kiiro stood acutely aware of the fact that Japanese was, quite obviously, her second language.

"Then, if we start from the cedar trees and we walk 30 ken towards the base of the hill, then we arrive-!"

"Did you find the treasure!"

Haruhi jumped.

Everyone whipped their heads around to see Tamaki.

"Tama-chan~!"

"What about your meeting?"

Tamaki strolled over to Haruhi, who was holding the map, "I couldn't put this out of my mind, so I came over as soon as the meeting was over. Did you make any progress in deciphering the treasure map? Daddy will also do his best to help!"

Haruhi freaked out and shoved the map into his face, "We've come to a sort of hypothesis!"

"Nuuu... I see then!" Tamaki murmured, staggering away. "At last we can start digging! Follow me!"

Almost everyone pumped their fist.