a/n: Let me start this by saying I have never touched a gun before in my life but my boyfriend has so I asked him lots of questions while writing this. This entire event ended up being longer than I intended so I had to separate it into multiple parts. This is an important development into their relationship though so I hope it's worth it! Are we starting to see signs of romance? Who know?

Chapter 13: A (Stupid) Idea (Part 2)

Haruhi walked into the large, intimidating facility looking as calm as ever but feeling quite the opposite on the inside. She had received a call from Kuretake explaining the situation beforehand so when the Host club eventually arrived to her house to pick her up without explanation like usual, she already had a gist of what was going on.

The walls inside of the building were stark white and bright. They reminded her more of a hospital than training grounds for a special task force, but she didn't voice her thoughts out loud. She looked around curiously, brows furrowed as she was pushed forward between the twins like usual.

Kuretake had warned her and Umehito that the Host club would eventually retaliate one way or another, but they just didn't know when and how. They trained to be able to improvise through many scenarios, both reasonable and unreasonable thanks to help from Renge, but still…this was way beyond what they expected from the group.

"Will somebody explain what's going on here exactly?"

She tried to sound exasperated like she always did with their antics. She had to act normal so that they wouldn't find out that she already knew. Something about the way Kuretake sounded on the phone worried her. The usually calm, though sometimes overzealous, woman sounded panicked. She didn't elaborate on why, but instructed Haruhi to be careful about this. Now more than ever their act had to be absolutely perfect or their whole plan would crumble before their very eyes. Haruhi's gut instinct told her that there was more going on though than what the maid wanted to say. The last thing she told her over the phone was still stuck on her mind.

'Whatever happens today miss Haruhi…please do not show fear towards the young master. I have a feeling that that's what they're after.'

She couldn't understand exactly what she meant by that, or how her friends planned on achieving that. There was no way she could let her guard down around these people.

"We wanted to play a little game."

"Yeah, a betting game."

The twins' cheshire grins seemed even wider than before and Haruhi had a bad feeling about it. Tamaki was ahead of her, happily trying to chat with her and being satisfied by her curt, uninterested one-word responses.

The 'betting game' was going to be between Umehito and Kasanoda for some reason. Renge predicted that they would use the redhead for their schemes at one point and apparently that moment was now.

"Kyoya-senpai, why are we at your family's training ground for your special task force?"

"Because this was the best area to host the bet." He answered simply.

"And what exactly is this bet about anyway?"

Nobody answered her.

She didn't need an answer though. She had a feeling she knew what it was really about.

Tamaki appeared by her side in an instant in his usually flamboyant style. Even now his overbearing confidence exuded roses from his figure that shouldn't have been there. Haruhi wondered just where exactly he got all that overwhelming confidence from. Ah, money.

All of them were overly cocky bastards. They were haughty, stuck up, and refused to take responsibility for their actions. How did she manage to look past all that and become friends with them? Did she become blinded by her obligation to erase her debt? Was she somehow brainwashed by all the material things that they threw her away? Glimpses into luxury that they wouldn't let her ignore?

She probably would've stayed ignorant herself. Without Umehito, she just might've been deluded into thinking that all rich people acted like the Host club, that there was nothing she could ever do to make them respect her for what she was. It was like she was prepared to give up, but now there was a new determination ignited in her that she never wanted to let go of. And she had Umehito to thank for that.

He was selfless and kind. He was eccentric, but wasn't as overbearing. He knew when to back off, and respected her thoughts and wishes. He had things he cared for and would sacrifice himself for them. She smiled fondly, remembering all the progress he's made with his photophobia for the sake of his little sister.

She'd…been thinking of him a little too often it seemed.

The smile she had immediately disappeared as soon as the group came across large double doors. Kyoya was ahead of the group and opened the doors for them. She had expected the room inside to be just as white and bright as the rest of the facility was, but was surprised upon entering.

"Is this…a shooting range?"

Kyoya nodded to her silently. The walls weren't as white as the outside, probably because of the padding on the walls for soundproofing. Where the walls were exposed she could see that they were actually painted gray instead of white. The room itself was huge. There were large glass dividers near where the door was. It was where individuals would probably stand with their weapons. At the very far end of the room there were targets already set up and Haruhi was starting to get worried. Why…why did they decide to have some sort of bet here? This was…the stupidest thing that the guys have ever tried to pull.

If there was something Haruhi wasn't fond of, it was violence.

There were already four people in the room and she recognized all of them immediately. Kasanoda and his aide Tetsuya were standing near the entrance of the room.

Kasanoda was dressed in a black long sleeved shirt with an unbuttoned button up over it as well as some khaki colored cargo pants. On the back of the white button up was a gaudy tiger design that…looked kind of good on him? Tetsuya was dressed in his usual fashion but his arms were folded over his chest and he had a deep, disapproving scowl on his face. Tamaki probably forced all of them to be here like usual.

Standing opposite of those two were Umehito and Kuretake. In typical fashion, Umehito had on his large, bulky cloak and dark wig which covered half of his face like usual. Haruhi thought it felt strange to see his face so hidden considering she's been seeing it so often these past few days. This wasn't the best time to be thinking about that now, she decided. Kuretake was behind her master in her usual maid outfit. Her expression was blank and unreadable. It would've been normal to other people, but Haruhi knew that the other woman usually had a subtle smile on her face whenever she was dutifully serving the Nekozawa family. Even Umehito, upon closer inspection, wasn't smiling like he usually was. He had a smile on his face, yes, but it looked forced.

"Ah, Ootori. It's a pleasure to see you using our family's products in your building's construction." Umehito said smoothly.

Even Haruhi thought it was strange to hear the strain in his voice trying to talk business. It didn't suit him.

"His family's products?" Innocently asked Huni.

"The Nekozawa family also distributes safety equipment for building safety and…" A slim hand emerged from the dark cloak to run a finger through one of the many bulletproof vests hung up on the wall, "…personal safety as well."

"Yes, and that's why their family is the leading figures when it comes to gun safety and awareness. I heard you worked closely with foreign militaries to supply them with their weaponry if my sources are corrects."

"Rather well informed aren't you?" Kuretake said dryly.

"As the third son of the Ootori family, it's to be expected."

Umehito didn't saying anything further, though for a brief moment Haruhi thought she saw his forced smile falter just a little bit as he snuck a quick glance at her. She saw his eyes then, the short flash of reluctance and sorrow before he turned to face Tamaki.

Tamaki on the other hand, chose to cower behind her and placed scared hands on her shoulders. On this day the club got Haruhi while she was wearing a thinner sweater and sweatpants (to the horror of the twins and great disapproval of her self-proclaimed 'daddy'). Through the slightly thin fabric the girl could feel exactly how squishy Tamaki's hands were.

Soft, thin, and delicate. Haruhi couldn't help but frown at the touch. These were the hands of a man who had never worked a day in his life and sat at the lap of luxury. At least that's what she decided to infer from it. She gingerly placed plucked his hands off of her shoulders and brought her arms down firmly by her sides.

Mori, who was closely observing the interaction, looked up at his cousin who was riding on his shoulders. Huni looked down at him as well, his large brown eyes calculating what was happening. Usually Haruhi would just ignore Tamaki whenever he would touch her, now she was starting look uncomfortable and maybe a little…disgusted?

"As much as I do love the company of the Host club during school hours, might I ask why I was summoned here?"

Kasanoda stepped up, though he looked incredibly uncomfortable doing so.

"I-I asked ya here for a challenge."

Through their keen eyes, it was obvious to Haruhi and Umehito that the young yakuza lord was forced to act like this by the club. He was trying to look and act tough, but obviously he wasn't a very good actor. Nonetheless, Umehito smiled that wide, creepy grin of his though the darkness in his tone didn't sound as amused as he looked.

"Oh? Is that all? And what kind of challenge must I partake in with the young Kasanoda?"

His voice was chilly, and Kuretake glanced at her young master for a moment.

"Young master…" she said quietly, trying to placate him it seemed like.

"Ah, and uh…um."

Kasanoda was at a loss for words briefly as he looked at the floor wildly trying to remember what lines he was supposed to say next. Tetsuya stepped up to help him.

"The young lord wants to challenge the young master of the Nekozawa family to a test of accuracy." He said plainly. "They will compete using pistols and aim at the targets. Whoever lands the closest hits to the target after five shots win."

Kuretake stepped up in front of her master to glare at the aide.

"And why exactly should my distinguished young master accept such a brutish challenge?"

Tetsuya seemed to sneer at the shorter woman.

"Eh? What's wrong? Afraid your young master won't match up to our young lord?"

Kuretake glared right back, placing her hands at her hips.

"More like we're saving your young lord from embarrassment before he loses spectacularly to my young master."

"As if the young lord could ever lose."

"Neither will the young master."

Sparks flew between them, though not the usual kind of sparks that appeared between men and women.

"I take it there's something else to this challenge?" Umehito spoke in a low voice, with that lazy smirk on his face.

He wasn't looking at Kasanoda as he said this, but rather at the Shadow king himself. Kyoya smiled that business smile of his.

"How perceptive." He muttered only for himself to hear.

"Of course it would be to get you to leave our dear little Haruhi alone should you lose!"

Kyoya sighed. It was only a matter to time before Tamaki's flair for theatrics burst forth and basically revealed the true motive for this challenge they not-so-carefully planned.

"Ah, so if I were to lose I would be forced to stay away from Haruhi is that right?"

The violet-eyed man flinched, not because of intimidation this time because of his upperclassmen's general dark demeanor.

"…Haruhi? Did you just say…Haruhi?"

There was a different light in his eyes. Tamaki gripped his hands and actually began to glare openly at the cloaked man who returned the expression with a smirk. Haruhi had forgotten that she asked Umehito to call her by her first name and it didn't seem to sit well with her club president. And she knew how much Umehito liked to agitate the other guy so…ah she should have known better.

"Fine." Umehito finally answered, smiling through gritted teeth. "I accept the challenge."

Kuretake shot a worried glance at her young master, forgetting the glaring contest she was having with Tetsuya.

"Young master you don't have to accept."

Haruhi eyed her carefully. Usually she was the first one to help them when it came for their plan. Her gut feeling was right. There was more going on here than she didn't know about. Umehito gave the maid a reassuring wave of his hand before turning to the group.

"And if I win?"

The twins seemed to burst out laughing right then. Clearly from how they were looking at the hunched over black mass in front of them, they thought that there was no way in hell that Umehito would win. Even Haruhi was slightly nervous about his chances of winning.

"Then I suppose you may ask for whatever you wish for, all within reason of course."

The dark clad man nodded before turning to face his friend.

"And you Haruhi? As someone inadvertently involved in this, are you alright with the present circumstances?"

There was a collective 'huh?' that flew out into the air as all eyes fell upon the small girl. Even said girl pointed at herself in confusion.

"You're asking me?"

"Of course. After all, this whole challenge is about whether I could continue being your friend or not. In the end it's your choice entirely isn't it? If you oppose to this whole matter entirely, then I will of course refuse. Although these circumstances are indeed amusing, ultimately only you have a say in who you would like to befriend."

She was touched that he turned around to ask her for her opinion. Even though this was obviously about her nobody, bothered to ask her for her say about it. She opened her mouth to answer but was quickly interrupted by none other than Tamaki. Like what always happened.

"Isn't it obvious? She's deeply perturbed by your constant harrassment!"

He yelled harshly in Haruhi's ear, circling his arms around her protectively. Kasanoda frowned at the scene, looking over at Umehito nervously. There was one other fact that he knew about his upperclassman that he failed to mention to the Host club. Even if he told them, there was no way they would believe him until they saw it with their own eyes.

"This challenge will go on so that you, once and for all, leave my Haruhi alone!"

Umehito gauged Haruhi's reaction. The girl's eyes narrowed as she stared directly into his own eyes. Through them, he knew that she really didn't want to go through with this either, but there was an anger inside her that was begging him to prove them wrong. To shut them up.

He pursed his lips.

In all honesty, he would have done everything but this, but he couldn't dare leave Haruhi behind by running away. It was him who pushed her into this sort of plan and he didn't want to leave her behind when they've already come this far. There was also a selfishness inside him that refused to stop seeing her. Perhaps that was the real reason pushing him forward. He was having fun being friends with her and he'd be damned if he'd let those wretched beings of light keep him away from her. His fists clenched underneath his cloak.

"Then let us proceed."