A/N: I was going to do this all in one chapter, but I've broken it into two, so you'll have to wait for the next part, muahaha. Anyhow, enjoy my lovelies~
Tamaki POV
My head was spinning as I tried to pry myself off the ground the next morning. I had ended up becoming a part of a new pile of clothing 'Garbage' at some point during the night. Honestly my room looked like a fashion grenade had just gone off, leaving hundreds upon hundreds of garments strewn about that I had forgotten I'd even owned.
"'Bout time you decided to wake up, boss." One singsong voice piped up, a dishevelled red mop of hair poking out from under the duvet of my bed. His eyes were half lidded and heavy with sleep, clearly from not having rested for long enough.
A second pair of amber eyes joined him, their Cheshire cat grins stretching ear to ear. It was a slightly disturbing sight to wake up to. "I thought Hikaru had actually turned you into a vegetable for a while. We had a bet on it."
"I guess I owe you that pair of boots that we found in Tono's closet, I was hoping to claim them for myself, but they'd suit you better anyway, Kaoru."
My features scrunched up into a hateful glare. "Who said that my closet had become some form of charity give away for shady twins!?"
"We did." I couldn't find words to retaliate so I tried to conjure up as harsh a glare as I possibly could. It was weak at best and seemed to have no effect on the devils.
"I should have thrown that hiking boot at him harder. He's less annoying when he's knocked out."
"If you'd thrown it even harder, he would probably end up even more brain damaged. Although that may actually turn out to be an improvement."
Ignoring the harsh insults, I shuffle out from under the mountain of clothing that was smothering me, kicking the rest off of my feet and coming to a stand. "This mess will have to wait. We must go find your sister immediately and I want you two to actually help this time!"
"Uh, Tama-chan?" Three pairs of eyes shot towards the door that was blockaded with shoes. "Do I have to knock this door down? Are you okay in there?"
"No, no, no! Everything's fine, Honey-sempai. One moment!" We begin digging through the blockade and making a suitable enough entry point for the new arrivals.
"Hika-chan, Kao-chan, are you trying to redecorate Tama-chan's room? 'Cause I think you're going about it all wrong…" He tapped a finger to his chin, observing the horrific state of my room. Mori had just squeezed himself through the doorway and was shifting the shoes out of his path with swift swipes of his foot.
"It was more a modification of his wardrobe," Hikaru shrugged, eyes lazily scanning over their mess.
"We need to take him shopping sometime soon; he doesn't have very much choice left after all our work," Kaoru glared at me, tutting away to himself.
"Tama-chan, we found out where Kyo-chan is!" Honey bounced over to me, wide grin on his face. "And Fuyumi-chan wanted me to say hey to you as well as something about commoner shopping adventures."
My face lit up, hands clasped together in front of my face. "Oh, you spoke to Fuyumi? I wasn't aware she was home, I'll most definitely need to arrange another shopping trip with her. Where is mother then, hmm?"
"Karuizawa! And Haru-chan might be there too according to what Fuyumi-chan told me. She was the one who recommended it to him."
"Why the hell would the Shadow King go to Karuizawa? I thought he was supposed to go to America for his holiday this summer." The twins shared a look before giving indifferent shrugs.
"Kyo-chan's still not answering his phone though, so I dunno if Haru-chan's actually there."
"Well men, I think it's time we took a little visit to Karuizawa for exploration! It's one step closer to saving my daughter from slavery or whatever tragedy has befallen her!"
"Whatever, boss."
Haruhi POV
It was Tuesday lunch time and I was pretty sure I was going to be the winner of this little challenge. All the fresh air and sunshine had knocked the Shadow King off his game in my opinion. I had finished cleaning out the visitors rooms: putting in fresh bedding, restocking the tea trays and other little snack items, cleaning the bathrooms and sweeping the wooden floors. The pension had gotten pretty busy and there was only one room that was left available for the next few days but I doubted that it would be free for long at this rate.
I stopped to check my to-do list for the day. Misuzu was taking care of the café area today, so that half of my duties were already scratched off my list. Other than that, there was just some laundry to take care of then I could sit back with a book or get some studying done. Most of the guests were away out in town, enjoying the sunshine and the small market that was running. Many had told me that the ice cream here in Karuizawa was worth dying for, so I was definitely going to have to go try that out before I left.
Taking a little detour through the kitchens, I snatched up a few grapes and popped them into my mouth as a little appetizer before I went on lunch break. The little ice cold gems were exactly what I needed on a day as hot as this. Planting myself on a stool in the laundry room, I took to my next duties of sorting out the washes for the different machines and putting the last loads onto dry. Quick and easy work.
"Oh, Ha-ruuu-hiiii!" A shrill disembodied voice called out from down the corridor. I followed it to the source, to find Misuzu giddily skipping towards me, dress in hand. A sense of dread filled my entire being as I looked the frilly material up and down. "I made you a cute little dress for the next time you go for a trip into the town. Isn't it adorable? It'll look even better on you!"
I found myself being physically dragged down the hallway towards my room. Misuzu was much stronger than he looked; I was practically lifted off the ground for half the journey. Launching me into the room followed closely by the dress, the door slammed shut behind me but I could still hear Misuzu's low humming from right outside.
Resigning to the fact that I couldn't just escape, I discard my current attire and slip the dress over my head. It was quite a tight fit and I had to really yank down on the hem in order for the material to fall into proper place. In all honesty, it looked a lot better on me than on the hanger: the frills over the bust made it look as if I wasn't anywhere near flat chested and the bodice really nipped in at the waist to then flow down and flutter just above my knee.
I stepped out of the room and into Misuzu's scrutinising gaze. The narrowed eyes scanned over me once, twice then lit up with triumph and unbridled satisfaction.
"Oh, Haruhi. You look just like a doll, it's so cuuuuuute!" He glomped onto me and swung me in circles, somewhat like what my father or Tamaki would do when they got over-enthusiastic.
"How about you go into town tonight? I'm sure I can handle everything by myself for a few hours. You could go with that handsome boy you brought along." He was spinning in circles, pulsating lovehearts replacing his eyes momentarily. "Yes, yes, yes. You should go! There's a firework display on tonight after all. I'll go inform him."
And like a shot, he was gone, zooming through the hallways. All I could really do is stare at the spot where Misuzu had just left trying to take in the okama's incredibly fast speech and process it into usable information on my part.
Kyoya POV
"Oh, Kyoya, darling?" Misuzu's voice had a slight ring of mischief blended into his usual bubbly tone. It was enough to make me suspicious and I nonchalantly glanced in the man's direction.
"Yes, Misuzu? Is there something I could help you with?"
"Why, in fact there is. You see, I wanted to get Haruhi out of the pension saying as she's been working so hard, so would you mind escorting her to the fireworks display tonight? I could come pick you both up afterwards, it would be no problem." The speedy speech seemed innocent enough, but I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.
"Hm, I don't see why not."
"Excellent! Excellent!" And with that, he was gone again; off to entertain some more of his guests that were lazing around the café area.
"I see…" I mumbled to myself. The only problem with this being that if my estimate was correct, then we would both be joined by five other overly-enthusiastic boys that would very happily go watch the fireworks.
I brushed that thought out of my mind and went back to the task at hand. Picking up the book that was resting in my lap, I slowly scanned over the lines of text once again trying to take them in properly this time without distraction.
Hikaru POV
Thanks to Honey we'd managed to half-track down Kyoya, which was probably our best bet at finding Haruhi. I mean, he is the Shadow King for a reason, right? The guy knows pretty much every little detail about us.
"Uh, guys, hate to be a bummer, but just because we know the town doesn't mean we've found anyone." Kaoru tried suggesting to us softly.
"Yeah, we could spend days knocking on doors looking for Kyoya-sempai."
"And I bet he won't be pleased when we find him." Kaoru and I spoke in unison, sharing a look of dread.
"That's a risk you two will just have to take!"
"What?! Us?!" We call out. "What about you, boss? I thought you were 'daddy' here? Look after your children!"
"I am a great father! How dare you question my parenting skills!" Scurrying to my feet, I just managed to escape the wrath of Tamaki as he came crashing to the spot where I just been sitting on his bed.
"Tama-chan, they're right." Honey tapped the taller of the blonde pair on the head, trying to rouse him out of his crumpled crashed state on the bed.
"We are?" We're replied with an enthusiastic nod and a semi-frustrated, semi-moping Tamaki lifting his head to stare at us teary eyed.
"Yup! We just gotta narrow down where to look, ne? Fuyumi-chan said he was staying at a pension , I think." The small senior smiled at us all sweetly, too sweetly in fact.
"Well at least it's a start. I would have been looking at the highest star hotels," Kaoru ponders.
"No duh, it's Kyoya-sempai after all."
Haruhi POV
It was getting late but nobody was ready for their beds yet, unlike most nights. It seemed like the majority of the town were going to be viewing the fireworks display tonight. The women were giddy with anticipation, all dressing up for the occasion. I would have been more excited except for the fact that I had to wait until half eleven at night to see them, due to the sun setting so late in the summer. I'd usually be dying for my bed by that time, tired from the day crammed full of menial tasks.
Although I could feel a smug grin growing on my face as the chances of Kyoya actually winning this little bet decreased by the second. And he was definitely aware of this little fact too; crossing his arms in a huff whenever I saw him and averting his eyes. I couldn't help but chuckle.
By eight o'clock I was tired of waiting and vanished up to my room to violently pull that dress over my head once again today and fix my hair from its slightly dishevelled state. I was just glad that Misuzu hadn't provided heels as a part of this little get up, otherwise I'd be cursing the man right now.
A whole ten minutes later, I wandered back down stairs in search of Kyoya. Perhaps he would be up for a late dinner and a wander around the town before the display, instead of sitting around.
He was in his usual spot, the odd girl or two not far off admiring him which had become quite common, but he ignored the attention pretty well. The boy was nose deep in another book, one of Misuzu's personal collection I presumed from the cover.
"Kyoya-sempai?"
His scanning eyes paused to flick up to me then down over the dress then back to my face once more. "Yes?"
"I was wondering if you'd like to head out early, we could go see the town and get something to eat. Beats sitting around waiting, right?"
His eyes wandered back to the page he had been reading, before closing it up and setting it down on the table. "I don't see why not. I'll go get ready then."
A soft smile graced my face as I watched him stroll away and through the sliding doors.
Tamaki POV
There were more pensions in Karuizawa and the surrounding area than I had expected. I should have listened to the advice of the other hosts and called around rather than track them down on a map after travelling here in a mad rush. My mind was all over the place in worry though and the bang to the head thanks to Hikaru must have killed off a good few brain cells, at least they were my excuses.
It was the third pension we had arrived at since we landed in my family's helicopter in some old woman's pension not long after lunch. Thankfully she wasn't too angry at us as soon as we brought out the sweet talk and charm, an advantage of being part of a host club.
This one was run by a very enthusiastic young couple. We could barely fit a word in edgeways with how fast the pair spoke, let alone understand what they were trying to get across.
"Could we interest you boys in a late dinner or something, hmm? Oh darling, I wish we had more boys like this around. Misuzu's pension has been so lucky! I've heard from the girls that they have quite a looker staying over there for the week!" The animated lady shook with glee, spinning on the spot into her fiancé's arms.
"Is that who the girls have been on about? I swear they're boy obsessed, can't keep their hands to themselves! Misuzu will be more than happy too!" The man's large smile seemed permanently glued onto his features, even as he spoke.
"Um, sorry to interrupt. You said Misuzu's pension? Where might we find that?" I tried to squeeze in, before the woman began talking again.
"Misuzu's? It's not far from here! Within walking distance believe you me! A lovely building, much like our own, but bigger. You can't miss it! Just head that-a way!" The woman began pointing down the road we just came.
And so we were off on another journey. Although apparently we'd already passed the building, it didn't seem to appear on my map. Perhaps it was quite new. But as soon as she started going on about handsome young men, I couldn't help but think it could be one of our own hosts. Who else could it be after all?
We stumbled across the building quite quickly, cursing myself for having ever missed it before. It was definitely a beautiful place to be staying. I wandered up to the door and let us all in and immediately we were bombarded with another host.
"Oh my! More handsome boys! This must be my lucky week. What can I do you boys for?"
Now it was obvious to us that this was most definitely a man in drag, much like Haruhi's father and something just clicked. "Are you by any chance Misuzu, my dear?"
The man swooned, shaking his long locks side to side. "Why yes that would be me!"
"Do you by any chance have a Kyoya Ootori staying with you? You see, he's a friend of ours and we'd like to see him."
His eyes widened in recognition. "Yes, young Kyoya is such a sweetheart! I'm so glad Haruhi brought him along with her. She's been the model employee. Are you friends of her as well?"
"Uh huh! We've been looking for her too!" Hikaru piped up from behind me.
"She's told me about all of you boys! Come in, come in. Have some dinner. I'm sure you can wait until Haruhi and Kyoya come back from their little dinner date."
All five of us froze on the spot. "Dinner… date…?"
"Mmmhm, I sent them out to see the fireworks tonight. They've hardly left the building since they got here after all! But they decided to go out and get dinner and explore instead of sitting around. You just missed them actually. They won't be back until after midnight I'm afraid."
My heart sunk in my chest as his words hit home. He had set my little princess up with the Shadow King and they would be out all night, in the dark, by themselves. This just wasn't right! Images of Haruhi shot through my mind, all dolled up for a night out in the town and it brought tears to my eyes. It should be me taking her out to enjoy the sights, no one else!
"Uh, boss," Hikaru broke me from my thoughts. "Are you coming or what?"
I had been left alone in the reception, all the other hosts abandoning me to take seats in the dining area. Hikaru was leaning at the door impatiently tapping his foot, waiting for a response.
"Of course…" I wandered over to him slowly, my heart heavy in my chest. My daughter was still needing saved but all I could do was sit and wait.
