Fun fact #32: Rituko, Kosuke's older brother, is ambidextrous.
302 REVIEWS YAAAAAAAAASS AYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYA!
Imafangirlforever: Especially grandmothers with grandsons such as these.
Secretly a Potato: Haha, yes it is from . It should be updated by the time this chapter is out. (BTW, I love your name)
RosemaryThief: *instantly high fives*
Mazgirl98: I agree, I loved Kazuha in the manga! The idea that she's exactly like the twins and yet they hate her so much is hilarious to me.
. .luv: Readers asked, and I delivered.
Wanderstar: Thank you and beware!
Bored411: Ah, I did not mean to mislead. Kyoya and Kosuke won't be having a romantic relationship, despite the early summary saying that they would. And don't worry; everyone's going to see the dark side of our favorite little redhead!
Demigod103: I would, too.
X Mika-chan X: The idea of Kazuha and Shizue was that they have only heard of each other from stories and such and they both think that they're horrible grandparents. ^-^ Thus creating a disliking for one another.
FALLING-ANGEL24: School will be starting back by the time I post this chapter, so updates may be slower or quicker, I don't know.
C: Thank you so much for constructive criticism! The reason for my excessive detailing is that our class was always focused on descriptive words. So, whenever our teacher asked us to write a story or whatnot, I always used as many descriptive words as possible. ^-^ I always dislike stories with little to no detail, so I wanted to do this story just the opposite. I'm dialing it down, however.
Momoka's crush on Kosuke wasn't intended to be a major plot arc. She does have a crush on Kosuke, but they're more on friendlier terms now than romantic, and she likes that just the way it is.
Expect more development between Kosuke and the twins.
If Yasuchika does come back, it won't be to pursue Kosuke's affections once more. He may see her in her male disguise, and if he sees her as a girl, there will probably just be a bit of awkward tension.
When this story is completed, I am considering going back and rewriting a few things. To me, I look back and see Kosuke as a bit of a Mary Sue. I actually did go back and rewrite sentence that claimed that Kosuke made her own clothes, so now she does not. Thank you for thinking otherwise, however!
And thank you for your review! I want this story to stretch out a bit. There are two episodes to every in-universe month, and the story will end by the end of their school year. There will be sequels, don't worry. Also, some of the filler is to A) Do just that: fill in some space, or B) Tone down the drama so this doesn't come off as too soap-opera-ish.
NeitherSanNorInsane(1): The Japanese characters at the end translate to "Kenshin".
NeitherSanNorInsane(2): Yes, Kohta will reappear in the next episode and will be mentioned in this episode. As I said before to C, this episode is just a little break from drama and whatnot.
anonymouseling: Thank you! I intentionally died down the hinting of Kosuke's past. And aren't mice adorable? I can't understand why people are afraid of them so much. As for the girl in the store, she maaaaaaaaay or may noooooot be important. Isn't Kazuha the best? And…oh my gah I can't believe my OC is actually influencing readers XD HALLELUJAH
LtSprinkles: Thank you, lieutenant!
otakuchamasherlockluvr: Ah, I see! You were here for the…dark times. *Twilight theme begins to play*
Now, if you guys want me to include more drama and less filler and such, I will happily do so, but expect a lot of that in the sequel!
Things are not going well for Kosuke and Haruhi.
After stepping off at Kagurazaka, it occurred to them that after that, there was really no telling where the two elderly men had gone. A worker attending a newspaper stand very close to the drop-off point of the bus had stated that he might have seen Kunio and Noboru, but couldn't be sure. He defended himself, saying that dozens of people exited the bus every day, and he didn't think he'd ever have to remember any of their faces. They continued down the street, roaming the sidewalks and shopping stands and other stores of sorts. They asked any people likely to have been where they were for a long period of time if they had seen the two men, but they had negative results for every response.
Finally, when their feet could no longer carry them, Haruhi and Kosuke sat upon the nearest empty bench they could find. They sit there now, their hands in their laps and their heads hung low. They considered calling the medical center for assistance, but they would undoubtedly ask why their patients had been lost. But now, observing their surroundings, they reconsider and decide to do just that. Haruhi reaches into her pants pocket and pulls out her phone, punching in the cell address to the medical center. She holds it to her ear and waits patiently. The line rings one, two, three, four times.
"I'm sorry; the line you have called is busy. Please wait patiently—"
"Ugh." Haruhi slaps her phone shut, cutting off the robotic voice. "Busy line," she explains to the anxious Kosuke. Said girl sighs and drops her gaze to her feet.
Haruhi leans her head back and stares up at the drifting clouds. Noboru and Kunio wouldn't be lost forever, she was sure of that, because there would undoubtedly be a search for the men by the police. But how many times would they be scolded? The police would scold them, the medical center staff would scold them (and ban them, likely), and heaven forbid the other Hosts scold them.
"Kosu-chan, Haru-chan! You really lost them?! How could you! They're probably all lonely and lost and scared!"
"Haruhi, you do know that this will add to your debt, doesn't you? I'd say about 100,000 more yen will make up for this. Oh, and as for you, Kosuke…"
"We don't know whether to be shocked or impressed. Or both."
"…"
"HOW COULD YOU DO THIS I RAISED YOU BETTER I CAN'T BELIEVE MY OWN DAUGHTER—"
Okay, yeah, she was going to stop there.
Glancing over, she notices Kosuke grimly staring into space, her eyes slightly narrowed. She nudges her arm with her wrist, and Kosuke glances to her in response. "Don't worry. We'll work something out. Somehow, we will."
Kosuke raises her hands to her face, sliding her palms down her cheeks before leaning back against the back of the bench. "I don't believe we've ever had a debacle as dire as this."
"Tell me about it. This isn't exactly sunshine and rainbows." Glancing down at the screen of her phone, Haruhi continues, "We have about another hour-and-a-half before our lives are over. Is there anything you want to talk about?"
"I don't recall any matters in need of discussion."
"Hm. How's Kohta going?"
Kosuke visibly suppresses a groan of exasperation. She tucks a strand of candy apple red hair behind her ear and sighs. "The predicament is about as well as one would expect."
"What all has he been doing?"
"He's requested me to complete his classroom works, groom his clothes from time to time, and purchase his meals. He also asked me to clean his locker around the time of a week ago."
"So that's where the aroma of sweat and moldy cheese crackers came from…"
Kosuke shudders at the memory of yellowed socks, crusted at the toes and heels, sticking to the sides of the locker, crinkled plastic wraps, the crumbs of cheese-baked crackers, half-eaten energy bars, and rotten apple cores thrown in to add the icing on the cake. She had the notion that he didn't keep his locker in such a way in actuality, but only made it such as to torture her. Either way, her humiliation continued at the Club that day, when the guests kept questioning the source of that "absolutely satanic odor." She showered twice that night, then bathed for thirty minutes straight afterwards. Even after that, she still couldn't shake off the sensation of grime underneath her fingers.
"I'm sorry, Kosuke. We'd help, if we could."
"I'm aware that you would. I'm aware that our colleagues would. But this is one such conflict that cannot be resolved."
"Why don't you just let him tell the secret? I mean, sure, your social image will be ruined, and you're probably going to have to change schools, your family will probably have to move towns, and you might have to change your name, eye and hair color, cell phone address and social security number, but that seems great compared to all of this!"
"I have scrutinized the possibility of taking such action." Kosuke sighs and begins to tug at her fingers. "But doing so will undoubtedly have negative effects upon the Host Club."
Haruhi raises an eyebrow and turns to her. "What do you mean?"
"If my true gender were to be revealed to the public, wouldn't there be quite a bit of controversy regarding my involvement in the Host Club. As such, the others will suffer indignity for having me with them, including you." She rubs at her neck subconsciously. "As melodramatic as it may sound, I'd rather that you and the others not suffer in such a way."
"Ah, Kosuke—"
"Respect for the Aged Event charity! We'd appreciate your generosity!"
Haruhi turns away from Kosuke and both of them look to their right. A woman in her late forties is smiling down at them through the lens of her glasses, kindly smiling as she holds out a small white bucket holding a few bills and coins in their direction. Black printed letters and a large RESPECT FOR THE AGED title wraps around the side. Haruhi awkwardly glances back to Kosuke before licking her lips and turning back to the older woman.
"We, um…I'm sorry, I don't mean to be rude, but could you—?"
"Oh! Oh, I'm sorry!"
"I'm sorry; it's just that, I mean, we're—"
"I understand, sweetie."
"We're having a moment. Sorry."
"Take your time. Take your time."
"Thank you." As the woman turns away and begins to request charity from more passerbies, Haruhi turns back to Kosuke with a small grin. "That's very considerate of you, but…you know when to draw the line, right? I don't want Kohta to force anything too bad on you, like drugs, or drug dealing, or shoplifting. And I don't want him to make you…y'know…"
Haruhi's pause, raised eyebrows, and flickering gaze eventually pass the message into Kosuke. She blanches upon realization, and although a disgusted sensation washes over her, she shakes her head vigorously. "No, no, no. I don't believe Kohta is so nefarious as to commit an act such as that."
"Alright, but just be careful," Haruhi continues. "Heaven knows what the others will do if Kohta does that, anyway. Tamaki will probably kick him into oblivion, Kyoya will sic his men on him, Hani and Mori will tear him to shreds, and Hikaru and Kaoru may try to beat him to death with a baseball bat."
"Hm."
Catching the redhead's suddenly thoughtful expression, Haruhi asks, "What?"
Kosuke breaks from her state of thought to look at the older brunette. "Pardon me?"
"The face! You were doing the face again! Why—?"
Wait.
Kosuke had been thinking very much over the past half-hour or so.
She had been doing so since their talk at the lake.
The talk regarding the twins and their relationships with the twins.
And Kosuke was blushing quite a bit afterwards.
Waaaaaaait.
Haruhi narrows her eyes at Kosuke, but says nothing. Kosuke notices and waits for her to speak, but she does not. A bit of awkward sweat rolls down Kosuke's cheek when Haruhi continues to do so. "Erm…Haruhi, is all well?"
Haruhi narrows her eyes more.
"…Whatever's the matter?"
Haruhi's eyes reduce to slits. "Mm-hm…"
Kosuke is, in all honesty, becoming rather frightened at her narrow gaze and thick silence, and she desperately desires for a way out. She quickly turns her eyes to the woman with the charity bucket, and clears her throat. "Excuse me, ma'am? I'll donate!"
The woman smiles and approaches them as Kosuke clumsily reaches into her pocket for a few yen. As Kosuke puts a handful of coins into the bucket, Haruhi furrows her eyebrows at the title across the bucket's surface.
"Respect for the Aged Event, huh?"
"Yes, ma'am, it's just a little party thrown together by us old-timers. A get-together, of sorts. The charity is to replace the refreshments and decoration funds."
"Mm-hm…" Would Kunio and Noboru be there? Was it possible that they hadn't exited the city yet? "Where's this at?"
"Erm…well, it's…"
Kosuke leans forward and says, "I believe she mentioned a location on Guroshiyama Street. However, I may be incorrect."
"That's where we're headed." Haruhi turns to the woman and gives her a quick nod of thanks as she turns away, Kosuke just behind her. "Thank you, ma'am. Have a nice day."
"Oh, well, hold on!" The woman sighs as the two girls continue on their way, quickly jogging down the street. "Well…crap."
"Why the horse face, Kyoya?"
Kyoya turns to Miss Chiharu, who stares down at him with expecting eyes. After their shopping spree, they had chosen to attend a local play being held in a nearby park's outside theater. Kyoya wasn't familiar with the play at all, it must have been originally written. It was about a prince who fell in love with a stable girl, and they rendezvous every chance they get as the prince's jealous fiancée stalks them. The acting was mediocre, and the script was choppy, but it had received quite a crowd. All around them, couples and singles sit upon wide cloths, bundled in coats and blankets. Hani and Mori sit a few yards away from them, sipping the free hot chocolate offered upon arrival.
Kyoya glances back to the stage. The prince (Kiyori or something like that) and the stable girl (Kaidi) are holding hands and saying poorly-written loving things to one another as the fiancée (Natsumi) watches them from behind a bush prop. He turns back to the older woman and parrots, "Horse face?"
"You've been down in the dumps since we left that store." She reaches down and tucks the quilt around him tighter. She was a grandmotherly lady, Kyoya notices. "What's the matter with you?"
"I've just been thinking, is all," states Kyoya.
Natsumi brandishes a knife from the folds of her cherry-dotted skirts (the dresses were designed like the plot took place in the 19th century, but they had the most ridiculous patterns) as she watches Kaidi and Kiyori lean in for a kiss. Some people in the audience gasp, and Hani wails, but Kyoya just rolls his eyes behind his spectacles.
"Penny for your thoughts?"
An actual penny landed in Kyoya's lap, bouncing on the surface of the blanket. He smirks and hands it back to her, saying, "It's family matters. My father is wishing for me to become engaged soon."
Chiharu wrinkles her already wrinkles nose at him. "What are you, fourteen?"
Kyoya chuckles. Chiharu had the unfortunate habit of talking excessively, but she had a sense of humor in there. "I'm seventeen."
"Why would he want you to get married now?"
"My father is a very business-centric man. He likes to get things done before it's too late. I'd imagine he's looking for fiancées for me now."
"So are you worried?"
Natsumi plunges the knife through the polka dot fabric of Kaidi's dress, into her abdomen. Goodness, that knife was so faux. You could see the plastic blade retract into its hilt the second it hit the dress. Kaidi crumples to the ground as Kiyori cries out in despair. A collective gasp runs through the crowd as she does so. "Worried about what?"
"Well, don't ask me that! What are you worried about?"
Kyoya sighs and thinks about that. "I'm not worried. I'm just…curious about what she'll be like."
"There's nothing to be worried about," Chiharu tells him with a pat on his shoulder. "If you're getting married to a girl, you're going to be with her for the rest of your life. You'll have to get used to her eventually."
As Kaidi lies dead on the floor, Kiyori takes the knife and stabs Natsumi through her heart. Natsumi falls to her knees, gasps several times as she clutches the 'bleeding' wound, and collapses completely as she heaves out one last breath.
Kyoya raises an eyebrow at her. What exactly what she telling him?
"Let me tell you something. Do you remember that other man named Kyoya?"
How could he forget? She hadn't stopped talking about him for more than an hour.
"And you'll remember what he was like? He smoked, he hung out at dingy bars, and he painted the principal's car windows black." Chiharu visibly sighs at the memory. She pauses, and the grimace on her face turns into a look of deep thought. "When I got back from college, I found out that my father had arranged for me to marry him."
A carriage (or, rather, a two-dimensional wooden outline of a carriage) rolls into the scene. Policemen step out from inside/behind the carriage and latch their arms around Kiyori, dragging him away as two others take away Kaidi and Natsumi's limp corpses. Kyoya flinches as Kiyori's actor shrilly screams out for his lover, but keeps his eyes locked on Chiharu.
"I screamed and I cried. I cursed my father, cursed at my mother. I refused to meet him, refused to talk to him. I threatened to run away if they didn't cut off the engagement." Chiharu silently chuckles, sighs, and pauses. "But when my parents dragged me downstairs to see him at our Christmas Ball, he had a bouquet of roses just for me. He drank only one glass of champagne, and turned down every cigarette offered." Chiharu's expression goes flat for a moment. "He still had that blasted rattail haircut, but he'd completely changed. And every day, he visited my house with a bouquet of flowers. At first, I told him to leave immediately, but I warmed up to him eventually. He never gave me jewels or gold, he didn't want to spoil me too much. About a month before our wedding, I told him that I loved him and he told me the same."
Kiyori is weeping inside a jail cell now, crying out for Kaidi. He's to be hanged at dawn.
"But you know what?" Chiharu smiles down at Kyoya. "The day of our wedding, when the chapel was set, when the guests had arrived, and I was ready to go, he just came out of nowhere and told me to come with him. So a did, me in my gown and him in his tux, and we drove around town. He told me that I didn't have to marry him if I didn't want to. He said he wouldn't force me and that if I still objected to the engagement, he'd take me home. I called him crazy, said of course I would marry him, but was so surprised that he would do so that for me."
Kaidi lowers down from the ceiling by a rope, dressed in a white gown, a plastic halo, and big, white cardboard wings. Kiyori weeps and goes to hug her, but she stops him, telling him it's no use.
Chiharu gives him yet another slap on the shoulder. "I'm not saying that you should go through with this if you don't want to, but I am saying that you should at least see what these girls are like. Maybe they won't be as bad as you think they'll be."
To be honest, that didn't exactly correspond with his worries, but it worked well enough to calm his thoughts.
As Kiyori is taken to the gallows, and Natsumi's mother curses him, and his father shakes his head at him, Kyoya asks, "Where's Kyoya now?"
"We were married for sixty-seven years," Chiharu says. She smiles sadly and stares at a single dying violet in the grass around them. "He died fourteen months ago. Leukemia took him away from me."
Kyoya immediately regrets asking. On the stage, Natsumi's mother, Kiyori's father, and others watch as Kiyori is led to the gallows, which isn't on the stage. There are sound tracks of footsteps on wood, a loud boom of a vanishing panel, and a rope snapping tight as it hangs Kiyori's neck tightly. As the scene changes, the sound of a swinging, creaking rope goes on.
"I'm so sorry," Kyoya tells Chiharu. Gracious, if the twins were here now, they'd be calling him a softie, wouldn't they?
Chiharu shrugs half-nonchalantly and half-soberly. "I had him while I had him. And I'd never give that time up for anything. Just make sure to enjoy the time with your wife, alright?"
Natsumi's mother and Kiyori's father talk somberly to one another at Kiyori and Kaidi's graves. Natsumi's grave is distanced away from both of them. Kyoya can't hear what they're saying (the actors aren't speaking nearly loud enough) but Kiyori's father pats Natsumi's mother's shoulder and they both walk offscreen. Above the cardboard outline of the castle, silhouettes of two angels rise and disappear into the sky. Kaidi and Kiyori are together, forever.
"…"
"…"
"…"
"…"
"…"
"..."
"Are you sure this is the right place?"
Guroshimaya Street was hardly even a street. It was a strip of dingy, moldy brick road wedged between two lines of buildings. At least half of them are closed and abandoned, with broken windows and missing bricks, the walls covered in graffiti and every crevice littered with cobwebs. The other half of the buildings are hardly any better, and it's hard to distinguish between the two of them. Well, one of them has a neon sign, at least…nope. They're it goes, crashing to the ground and breaking on impact. As they observe the street, a single rat the size of a Pomeranian shuffles across the road.
Haruhi wrinkles her nose. The entire place smelled like cigarette smoke, rotten food, animal carcasses and…cinnamon? It was something along the lines of that. She pulls her furry collar up to her nose in a meek attempt to block out the odor.
"We requested directions several times…" mutters Kosuke, who side-steps away from a trash can that seems to be moving on its own. They had asked for directions. Given, everyone they asked had stared at them as if they were insane, but they hadn't thought very much about it. Well, okay, they had, but they tried to ignore it.
Haruhi looks over her shoulder. Goodness, it was almost comical how polar opposite this place was compared to just behind them. The main street was sunny and clean, with children and actually healthy animals. The buildings were brightly painted and well-kept. This place looked like something out of Cormac McCarthy's The Road.
"Perhaps this isn't correct." Kosuke gives the main street an almost pleading look, as if she wants to take off for it and kiss its ground. "Perhaps there's another Guroshimaya Street aside from this one."
Haruhi points down the "street" to a single building with the only lights. Smoke pours out of a pipe attached to its wall. "That place looks open. Maybe we should go check it out."
Kosuke gives the building a disdainful look. "I'm not very comfortable with that plan."
Haruhi gives her a sympathetic but stern look. It was a look that clearly read We just lost two human beings. We have to do something. Kosuke, in turn, follows Haruhi through the "street", grimacing the whole way.
The street isn't long at all, but they still manage to pass by a grungy-looking man in a trench coat, a skeletal cat, a woman dressed in nothing but a towel and a shawl, and a Chupacabra. That's the only word Haruhi could think of to name it. The building was a tiny two-story thing with walls of moldy gray bricks and windows so dirty they were opaque. A single neon sign (broken) hangs in the window, reading Dorinku (which literally translates to "The Drink"). Haruhi rolls her eyes at the creative title and watches the shadows of movement across the glass.
A lone beer bottle suddenly crashes through the window. The rest of the glass doesn't even crack, just the area it hits breaks like paper. The two girls stare at the shattered bottle, glance at one another, and take deep breaths of air before pushing open the creaking door into the building.
Another blast of that wretched odor hits them, this time accompanied with a hint of liquor. The pub is dingy, that's for sure. It was bigger than it looked on the outside, but not cleaner. Four plastic tables with metal chairs are in the room, their tables originally white but now smeared brown. Three tables are missing legs and several chairs are tilted towards the floor. There are only three light bulbs, one of which is broken and the other is flickering. The walls are brick and wood, covered in nasty mildew and mold. The bar itself was slanted and only had two crooked stools. Five bottles of room-temperature beer, two bottles of vodka, and a single bottle of tequila sit on a small counter behind the bar. A bowl of small, rotting lemons and limes sits beside them. A small red radio sits on the bar, playing out more static than music.
A single man sits behind the bar. Haruhi can't really tell how old he is. His face isn't very aged, but the hair that falls to his hips is black and gray. He's reading some kind of German bikini model magazine, rolling a toothpick in his yellow teeth. He's the only human being in sight.
"Excuse me, sir?" The man looks up to her in response. "Um…you wouldn't happen to have seen two old men come by here, have you? One of them was kind of tall, the other was kinda short and fat?"
The man rolls the toothpick, flips the page, and says, "Nope."
"Oh. Um…could you tell us if there's another Guroshimaya Street?"
He flips another page. "Nope."
"…Can you tell us anything?"
He rolls the toothpick. "Nope."
Haruhi and Kosuke sigh in the awkwardness. This man was refusing them anything.
A thud from the ceiling catches Haruhi's attention. She looks, up and so does Kosuke, and the ceiling creaks with the movement of feet. Another set of feet moves soon after. Kosuke turns to her left and spots a small door past the bar. The spelling was faded and highly grammatically incorrect, but she could just make out the words ENTIRTAINMINT ROOM. She points with two fingers at the door and turns to the man behind the bar. "Is that area open to visitation?"
"Yeeup."
"Is there anything going on up there?" Haruhi asks, craning her head to look at the door.
"Yeeup."
"Is there anything suspicious going on up there?"
"May-beh."
"…Are you even going to try to stop us from going up there?"
"Nope."
"Thank you for your patronage."
Haruhi turns away from the man and instead to Kosuke. She jerks her head in the direction of the door, and Kosuke responds with a nod. The two girls open the door and push their way inside.
Behind the door are a set of rickety stairs that leads to a flat landing, and then another set of rickety stairs. The two girls quickly trek up the two sets of stairs and pause before the door on the second floor landing. Haruhi holds up a hand to stop Kosuke and leans her head against the wood of the door. Inside, she can hear shuffles of movement and a few hushed voices. There's a loud 'click' and the sound of balls rolling, as if there was a pool table inside. Haruhi turns the doorknob, nods to Kosuke, and pushes the door open.
The two girls immediately freeze.
There are more than a dozen elderly people inside the room. Gray-haired, wrinkly-skinned, doe-eyed elderly people, sitting and standing around. They're adorned in leather and denim jackets, boots and sneakers, and some have caps and fedoras of sorts. Five elderly men are standing around a pool table, a group of women sip of pink drinks, and some are conversing at lone tables. Immediately, silence casts over the room once every catches sight of the girls.
Haruhi is speechless. What on earth is going on?!
As Kosuke gapes in shock, Haruhi's eyes wander the room and land on a familiar pair of men, one tall and smiling, another short and grumbling under his breath. They're both playing a game of poker at a nearby table.
"Noboru and Kunio—? Wha—? WHAT'S GOING ON."
A click behind her catches her attention. Haruhi turns around to see a rather tall man with salt and pepper hair closing the door behind them. Kosuke immediately steps closer to Haruhi, staring at the man with wide eyes full of fear.
"What are you ladies doing here?" The man asks.
"What are you talking about?!" Haruhi retorts. "What are you all doing here? I don't—what—why?! Shouldn't you all be in nursing homes or something?"
"This is our Respect for the Aged Day Event!" retorts a woman with saggy lips the color of grapes. "We do this every year! Do you know how much retirement money it takes us to pull this off?! We have to rent out this place, buy the drinks and food—"
"I don't care about your get-togethers." Haruhi throws her hands into the air in a fit of frustration. "We just need to get those two—" She points an accusing finger at Noboru and Kunio. "—and leave!"
"Haruhi, I don't think it would be best that we leave them here," Kosuke tries to whisper to the brunette, but Haruhi gestures for her to be quiet.
"And what right do you have to take them away?" spits another woman with a bit of a twang. Haruhi fights down a glare as Kosuke squirms behind her. Goodness, these women were snooty.
"The same right that you guys have to break out of your care facilities. Look, just let us take them back!"
"You're not taking anyone."
The lights go out.
A moment later, they return, now purple.
Kosuke latches her hands onto Haruhi's arm instantly. The figures in the room are now silhouetted in the darkness. They slink and hobble forward to the girls, their faces shadowed. Soon, they are surrounded by them, and Kosuke is shrunken behind Haruhi like a frightened cub and her lioness mother.
"You both need to leave right now."
"Listen. We just need to—"
"Get her."
Hands latch onto Haruhi's jacket, pulling her into the thick throng of elders.
"Haruhi!" Kosuke screams.
"AGH! THEY'RE…PINCHING ME!" Haruhi growls as a pair of long fingers squeezes her cheeks until it leaves pink spots. Other pairs pinch her neck, her arms, and her legs. It doesn't hurt very much, but it's highly uncomfortable. Kosuke stares on in horror and…confusion.
Then, focusing her attention behind the crowd, she sees the table that Kunio and Noboru had been sitting at is now unoccupied. She spins her head around, red hair flying all over, until she just barely catches the two silhouettes scurrying out the door and down the stairs. If she had permitted herself to, she would have cursed. She turns back to Haruhi, who is still being pinched senseless. After a few moments of turning her head from the door to her friend, she quickly puts her hands on Haruhi's waist and pulls her forward. Haruhi slips out of the elders' grasp like melted butter. Haruhi rubs her pink-and-red cheeks a moment before hurrying after Kosuke, who has made a break for the door.
Leaving the crowd behind them, the duo stumble down the stairs, past the first-floor room, and out onto the street. Passing by the Chupacabra, they continue after the surprisingly fast elderly men.
"This…has been nice, hasn't it?"
Shizue Suoh emotionlessly blinks her cold gray eyes at her grandson. Tamaki blanches as a result, clearing his throat anxiously. They stand on the curb of the medical center, cold breezes nipping at their faces.
When Shizue continues to remain silent, Tamaki risks a sharp glance to the twins behind him. Hikaru and Kaoru shrug in response, giving him more 'It's-not-our-fault' stares.
"Tamaki." Tamaki turns back to his grandmother quickly. Shizue turns her body away but keeps her eyes on his face. "Can I talk to you in private?"
"Yes, yes, of course!" Tamaki scurries to fall in step with her. They continue a small ways down the sidewalk, stopping before Shizue's sleek limousine.
The older woman takes her eyes away from Tamaki at last. Her gray orbs are dark, thoughtful, and that only makes Tamaki more anxious. His hands are trembling in fear, his hair on end.
Finally, he brings himself to speak. "I cannot apologize enough. I never thought Kazuha would do such a thing, and I will definitely pay for the kimono, and I will see to it that justice comes to this. All I can ask is that you—"
"Tamaki."
"Yes?"
"…If I knew where your mother was now, I would tell you."
In turn for his marriage to Éclair, Shizue was going to reunite Tamaki with Sophie.
Sophie was working for Éclair.
Éclair fired Sophie after her engagement to her son was called off.
Sophie disappeared yet again.
Tamaki's violet eyes became half-lidded as the stared down at his feet.
"Yes…I know you would."
As the twins watch, Shizue steps into her limousine, closes the door behind her, and is taken away, the sleek vehicle disappearing behind the corner. Tamaki turns away and walks back to them, a somber expression on his face. Weights on their chest tell them that something is wrong with their president. And just when they are going to ask, Tamaki raises an eyebrow at them and asks, "Where's Kazuha?"
In answer, Hikaru reaches into his pocket and pulls out a sheet of paper covered in messy scrawl. He and his brother recite it together, "Gone to Peru. Be back whenever. Peace out."
Hikaru laughs aloud and rolls a hand through his strawberry blond hair. "Ah, the look on Shizue's face when she dumped the tea on her!"
"I'm going to be up all night laughing at that!" agrees a chortling Kaoru.
Tamaki, meanwhile, narrows his violet eyes at the sheet of paper in Hikaru's hands. "What's that on the back?"
In their confusion, the twins cease their laughter and turn the paper over, reading the text aloud.
"P.S. borrowed some cash."
They quickly pull their wallets from their pockets and look inside, finding that both of them are barren of currency. "Oh, FOR THE LOVE OF—"
"I HATE THAT WOMAN."
Finally entering the medical center once again, the three teenage boys find most of their colleagues sitting in the lounging lobby of the center. Kyoya is sitting on one of the blue-cushioned seats lined in the center of the room. Surprisingly, he's not on his phone or writing in his notebook. Rather, he's staring into space with a rather thoughtful expression. Hani is sitting before one of those children-entertainment-blocks, the things with the balls-on-wires and tic-tac-toe panels. Mori is sitting next to him, helping him get all the wooden fruits into the right bowls. Behind them, Chiharu sits with her friends, gossiping about unknown manners. Kunio and Noboru stand beside them, Kunio still smiling and Noboru still grumbling.
"Hey, where's Haruhi?" asks Tamaki.
"And Kosuke?" asks the twins.
Hani shrugs, Mori says nothing, and Kyoya opens his mouth to reply, only for the two girls in mention to come running up to them just a moment later.
They're both hunched over, breathlessly panting for air with their cheeks flushed pink from exhaustion and cold air. Haruhi's fur-lined jacket is hanging off one shoulder, her short brown hair mangled from movement. Kosuke has one hand on her frantically beating HRD, her red braid an absolute bird's nest at this point. Haruhi raises her head to speak, lowers it to catch one last breath, and raises it again, pointing a finger at the two men they've been chasing after.
"Do you…huff…have any idea…huff…what we have been through?"
Noboru crinkles his nose at her, cupping a hand around his ears. "What? Fru fru salve fanny IKEA hat weed rend do?"
"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT WE HAVE BEEN THROUGH?!" Haruhi's hair stands on end as she screeches at him. Kosuke flinches, still panting and pink-faced. The others lean back in surprise and a few patients and nurses give her bizarre looks before continuing with their doings. "WE have searched EVERYWHERE for you two!" Haruhi begins to count on her fingers, holding up the index. "We could have been arrested!" She holds up her middle finger secondly. "You could have been arrested!" She holds up her pinkie thirdly, pointing it at the redhead behind her, who is once again doing her funny little wail. "You made Kosuke cry!" She holds up four trembling fingers. "And you had us worried sick!"
"What…exactly happened?" Tamaki questions awkwardly. Kaoru and Hikaru disappear from their places beside him and reappear beside Kosuke, nuzzling her head with their cheeks in a weird attempt of comfort, further messing her red hair. Kosuke stops wailing to stare at them in silent confusion, albeit blushing as she did so.
"Those two—" Haruhi jabs her finger at Kunio and Noboru, giving the shorter one a sharp glare when he wrinkles his nose at her again. "—abandoned us to go to a bar!"
"What?!" Hani cries out shock.
"Yes! They abandoned us and went to a bar with all these other old people and they plan to go there every year with their retirement money and they drink and they smoke and they're really, really rude!" Her final words finish on a breathless rasp.
Naturally, Kosuke is the only one who does not stare at her in awkward shock. Tamaki glances around at the medical center staff, making sure no one had noticed her outburst, before quickly smiling and waving around to his friends. "Alright, it's time to go!"
As the others rise to their feet, Haruhi sputters. "W-What? But no—"
"Ayyyyy it's time to go." Tamaki turns her around by her shoulders and pushes her to the exit.
As Haruhi continues to sputter and try to explain, Kosuke turns to the twins. "It truly did happen…"
"Yes, Kosuke," Hikaru says as he and his brother take her hands, pulling them forward.
"We know it did," adds Kaoru in the same snipped voice.
Kosuke mentally huffs and curses herself for continuing to blush pink.
Okay, guys, I'm going to be honest here.
I have a lot of stuff to do.
School has started back.
My Spanish class is requiring us to study three to four sections, all at the same time for tests in the same week.
I have two others stories to work on.
My schedule leaves me, like, three hours to work on these stories each day.
So, in total, it is impossible to make quick updates on a basis.
Please just bear with me.
~LunarisAmor
