Chapter 20: What Started As…An Intervention
It was well known that Tamaki was born the illegitimate son of the Suoh bloodline. Even so, he was still declared the heir to the family and unless his grandmother directly interfered, he got his way with practically everything. Whatever he desired, he got. Whatever goals he had, he accomplished. He was extremely charismatic and his good looks always made sure that he could charm his way through everyone's hearts. That was how he got the Host club together in the first place. Someone like him who was absolutely handsome, incredibly charismatic, effortlessly intelligent, and filthy rich was the perfect man! Everybody loved him. There should've been no exceptions.
So why was Haruhi suddenly so cold to him lately? He was so good to her all the time. He let her bask in his beauty, gave her lavish gifts fit for a princess, and gave her his undivided attention. Was there something he was lacking? Was there something that he had that Tamaki didn't?
No. There couldn't be.
He slowly walked over to a miniature dollhouse that he had in his room and picked up one of the seven pieces inside. They all were created in the likeness of everyone in the Host club. The one in his hands, a small doll with brown hair, was hugged close to his chest.
His precious 'daughter'. The one he couldn't imagine living without.
No. He wasn't lacking anything. There was no way his precious daughter could ignore him forever. She was under an illusion, a very bad illusion. He picked up another piece that was purposely dropped on the ground, away from his happy little home. It was a small black cat that he began to dislike for some odd reason. A beast like that didn't deserve to come near his princess. No no, as the king of the castle he would make sure he would protect her from any dangers.
He kicked the small doll away even farther and placed the brown haired doll near a blond haired one.
"Daddy will protect his little Haruhi." He said with a wide smile and blank eyes. "And the only one who can be by her side is me."
The stress that Haruhi was feeling was at its absolute peak. It was the day before her exams and even though she prepared for them the best that she could, she still felt nervous. Most of the stress she felt wasn't really from the test though. For the few days that she was studying with Umehito, they were constantly under the observant eyes of fangirls. The fact that everything they had to do was strictly monitored meant that even the smallest bit of interaction between them required effort. It was exhausting.
Haruhi 'gracefully' planted her head in her hands and groaned slightly. The two of them were in Umehito's private car now, finally going home after their latest act in the library. Her cloaked partner gave her a weak smile, feeling just as exhausted as her, and patted her head soothingly. She stiffened a bit under his touch.
Renge said that little pats on the head like that would really sell his image as a caring, brotherly type, so he was instructed to start doing so as often as he could. It's not like she found the action annoying, quite the opposite actually. She actually scared herself by how much she felt comforted by it. It was a simple action, but it sent unwelcome but pleasant shivers down her spine. She couldn't admit to him that he was the biggest cause of stress lately. She couldn't say that her heart couldn't handle the shock of his handsome face and caring nature for much longer.
She heard a loud and rather undignified groan come out of Umehito and she watched in amusement as the man basically threw his head back on his seat.
"Who knew that catering to those ladies would be so exhausting?"
She chuckled weakly and threw her head back too with a sigh.
"I did senpai. And I tell you this every time you ask."
"I don't remember asking that often."
"Apparently not since you always forget you ask it. This is what, the fifth time this week?"
"But, I just didn't know it'd be this tiring."
"And that's about the seventh time you've said that too."
She felt him softly nudge her side with his elbow in fake annoyance which caused her to laugh at his childishness. In reply, she nudged his side right back. It was comfortable being together with him, they always had interesting conversations and sometimes acted like children. He brought out an immature side of her and she brought out a confident side of him. They worked together symbiotically.
Haruhi kept her eyes open as she stared at the ceiling of the car. It was undeniable now and she hated it. She felt best by his side and it was troublesome. She slowly turned her head, hoping he wouldn't catch her looking at him, but was relieved to see that his eyes were already closed. The soft rocking of the car ride must have lulled him to sleep. She couldn't blame him since she was pretty tired too.
Now that there was no dangers of him catching, she openly stared at him with softening eyes. He really was beautiful, both inside and out. He had become such an important friend to her, and she would make sure it would remain that way. Although she knew about the painful thumps in her chest, she resolved to keep them to herself. She wouldn't bind him to her through the obligation of their plan, and even if he acted sweetly towards her she knew that it was only because of their own selfish goal in the end. She was thankful for the new experiences because of him, but they were both striving towards futures that wouldn't intermingle beyond friendship. He was the friend she had always wanted and he would stay that way.
She would make sure of it herself.
Outside of the Fujioka residence, Kuretake stepped out of the passenger's side of the car and calmly made her way to open the car door for Haruhi. It was something she had been doing as of late since her young master always insisted on escorting her home whenever they were together. It was the least he could do he would say whenever the young girl would try to say it wasn't needed. The maid smiled to herself thinking about how the two got along so well. Even the madam, Umehito's mother, often talked to her about how the two suited each other.
They were playing the role of lovers, but seeing how comfortably the two actually acted together always managed to raise her brow in a mischievous way. However, the young master himself had mentioned that they would only remain friends, and since Haruhi had also never mentioned wanting anything further their relationship stayed at that. But Kuretake had other thoughts about the whole thing.
"Young master, miss Haruhi, we've arrived…oh my."
She brought a hand to her mouth to hide a small smile. The two passengers were sound asleep, with Umehito's head resting comfortably on Haruhi's shoulder, and the girl's own head resting on the top of his head. Kuretake knew that her young master had a habit of clutching things in his sleep. When he was younger he had absolutely forbid her from ever mentioning to anyone that he slept with a stuffed cat, and since she was the one who often cleaned his room she knew that he still kept the toy on his bed. She supposed that he was probably looking for its paw while he slept, but instead of the paw he had the young Haruhi's small hand tightly clasped in his own.
She casually took out her phone from her pocket and snapped a quick picture of the two before gently waking them up. She would save the picture for now. They probably couldn't see it yet, but they really did suit each other.
It was done. It was finally done.
Haruhi exited her class with her chest puffed out in pride. It felt like a huge weight that was finally lifted from her shoulders. Her face didn't mirror the grief-stricken look of her classmates. In fact, she felt extremely confident that she did well on her exams, and she had Umehito to thank for that.
Grabbing her phone, she was about to text the man about how happy she was that the tests were finally finished, when all of a sudden arms hooked themselves under her underarms and lifted her effortlessly in the air.
"Target…"
"…Captured."
She had a strange feeling of deja vu as all of a sudden she was whisked away quickly down the halls of the school and out the doors to an awaiting stretch limousine. Inside the car that she was forcibly shoved into, the rest of the Host club sat waiting. Immediately she found herself being smothered underneath three bodies. She thought that she would suffocate there again, but surprisingly the bodies were pulled away from her by a sudden force.
"Thank you…Mori-senpai…" she managed to say in slight confusion.
Why were they helping her so much now? Didn't they used to just stand back and watch things happen before?
"Oh my Haruhiiii. I missed you so much!"
Haruhi felt too dead from her exams to even glare at the idiot. She should have expected something like this to happen. They were probably counting down the minutes till the exams were over so that she'd have no reason to spend so much time with Umehito anymore. Damn, they should have thought about this and scheduled someone out on the lookout for them. But then again, Umehito had his own exams to finish and they were more difficult. All of a sudden she felt embarrassed. She relied on him too much. He must have been burdened by her need to study, when did he have time to focus on his own work? And when had she gotten so reliant on him that he was the first person she thought of to help her out of this situation?
"Since exams are over I thought that we were all overdue for a little quality time!" Announced Tamaki with that same exuberance he always had.
"Tell her where we're going boss."
"Yeah tell her!"
The twins positioned themselves on either side of her again like they always did and she felt what was left of her energy drain away. This wouldn't be fun. Sure she had a lot more time on her hands now, but that didn't mean there weren't chores to finish at home. She still hadn't finished packing for the weekend.
"All right then! Now everyone, control your excitement, but I would like to inform you all that we're headed for a commoner's arcade!"
"Yay commoner's arcade! Commoner's arcade!" The red-headed twins cheered in unison.
Huni and Mori did their best to look enthusiastic, well Huni more than Mori, while Kyoya sat casually in his seat staring at the rest of the group with an unreadable expression. Strange. He was usually busy with either his notebook, laptop, or even his phone.
But even if he was opposed to something, he would never stop Tamaki once the idiot's made his decision. And they weren't even doing any Host club activities, so why did he go along with this? It's not like there was anything in it for him.
"As much as I'd love to," She said sarcastically, though the sarcasm was lost to some of them, "I can't play with you guys today. I have a lot of stuff to do at home."
"Yes, I bet you do."
She shot a nervous glance at Kyoya, but the glare of his glasses was making it hard to read him. The tone of his voice didn't sit well with the girl and gave the impression that he knew more than what he let on…but what exactly did he know?
"Come now Kyoya, don't be so moody!" Tamaki continued in oblivious bliss. "Oh this will be so much fun! We can all play games together and then go to what the commoners call a 'picture booth'! Oh it'll be so exciting."
He dramatically tilted his head back again as he closed his eyes to imagine something ridiculous and very far from reality. He sighed dreamily, arms reaching out to hug Haruhi but he evaded his grasp. That didn't stop him however, as he continued on.
"Just thinking about being together with my dear Haruhi and saving the precious moment we share with each other in a photograph small enough to fit in your wallet. That way you'll have me around everywhere you go!"
Haruhi's mouth dipped down into a very displeased scowl. The only reason she hadn't just jumped out of the car already was because the arcade they wanted to go to was in close proximity to her house, so it saved her some time and money.
"I'm not going."
Her flat out refusal seemed to turn the three people around her into stone.
"But why Haruhi?" Asked Kaoru in curiosity.
"Yeah, I mean you don't have to study so what gives?" Followed Hikaru.
"Don't you want to spend time with daddy?"
Tamaki's puppy dog eyes were in full effect, but now Haruhi found herself feeling nothing while staring at her upperclassman's violet eyes.
It's not the same.
She flinched from the sudden thought that popped in her head. This wasn't the right situation to think about that.
"I don't, senpai." She said firmly. "Like I said, I have a lot of stuff to do at home."
"Would that 'stuff' have anything to do with your trip tomorrow by any chance?"
Haruhi could feel her entire body freeze up. She refused to look up and meet Kyoya's eyes because she knew nothing but trouble would come out of it. He found out. The news probably circled around from the people who were watching them in the library all the way to Kyoya's network of information. There was no way that she could get out of answering this question.
"…it does."
Tamaki looked back and forth between the two, unaware of why the tension in the car was suddenly so thick.
"I'm sure you're already aware that if he ever finds out about the truth and he spreads that information, you would no longer be allowed to be a member of the Host club?"
He was terribly intimidating yes, but it didn't seem like he knew the full truth quite yet. She may have a chance, only if she played her cards carefully here. She was panicked, if she lied now Kyoya would see right through her.
"Yeah. My dad and I were invited and he wanted to go."
It wasn't a lie. The moment she told her father about the invitation to the Nekozawa family vacation home in Okinawa he was absolutely ecstatic. He even went out and bought new clothes for the trip even thought it would be impossible to swim in the ocean since it was still so cold.
"Wait Kyoya hold on, what are the two of you talking about?"
Kyoya looked at Tamaki and sighed. He really was just useless. Then again, if there was someone who could probably convince the girl not to go, it would be that guy. The black haired man knew he wouldn't be able to convince Haruhi otherwise since it was something her father had already agreed to. Judging from the last visit to the Fujioka home, it seemed like Ranka already favored Umehito over the rest of them so there was no way he could convince the father that it would be foolish to accept the invitation by saying that the Nekozawa heir was a bad person. And he couldn't threaten her with adding to her debt since it would cause more legal problems than solutions. They couldn't tag along this time either since it was the Nekozawa property and not any of theirs. So ultimately, the last resort was to use Tamaki.
"Nekozawa-senpai invited her to his family's vacation home I believe."
Haruhi glared at Kyoya for purposely wording it the way he did. He was trying to get a reaction out of Tamaki under the idea that she would relent to whatever he begged of her. Well not today.
"Nekozawa-senpai? Him again?" Tamaki whispered lowly. "So it's going to be him again is it?"
Before Haruhi could even begin to defend herself he immediately descended on her and planted a vice grip on her shoulders which caused her to wince in pain. Huni immediately got up and pulled him away from her but the furious glare on Tamaki's face remained. The girl's eyes widened at the strange sight which caused her to unconsciously shrink in her seat.
"Why Haruhi? Why does it have to be him? He's repulsive! Unsightly! A disease! He has no right to be around you. He doesn't deserve to even call you by your name. I forbid it. I absolutely forbid you from meeting with him ever again. Haruhi, you will listen right? You will. You will listen to your father and that's final."
His eyes were wild as his face scrunched up in genuine hatred. The way he was slandering Umehito even though he was nothing like that…was making her livid. Listen to her father? Did Tamaki really think that he could just project whatever he wanted on her just like that? She knew he was arrogant and delusional yes, but this was taking things too far now.
He had no right to tell her what to do. He had no right to tell her who to be with. He wasn't her father. He wasn't even close. He didn't own her. She belonged only to herself.
"No."
Her voice was quiet at first, but the shaking of her fists and the fierce glare she was giving them was evidence enough of what she was feeling.
"What was that?"
"I'm not listening to what you say."
Hikaru whipped his head to face her with an unreadable expression, and Kaoru looked at him with an alarmed look.
"And why is that?" Kyoya asked though it didn't seem like he was pleased. "If your ambition to become a lawyer is that great then it would've just been better to approach one of us instead of sticking so close to someone like him."
Her eyes flared dangerously.
"Excuse me?"
Is that what he thought of her? That she was seducing Umehito just because of his connections? The absurdity…the fucking absurdity. So that was it huh? They just didn't respect her at all didn't they? Well she was done with that. She was done with all of that. The only reason she was in the club in the first place was because it would have been easier to earn the money to pay off her debt anyway. To hell with that. She'd find another way. She was done with all this shit.
"I'm done with this." She muttered quietly at first. "I quit."
There was silence in the car. All of the men shared grim faces mixed with shock. Tamaki reached a shaky hand forward, not believing what he had just heard.
"N-No, you don't mean that, right Haruhi?"
"I do."
"It can't be…a dream! Right this is all a dream! There's no way that my dear little Haruhi said that she would quit the club —"
"I did."
There was a sudden motion next to her. Haruhi's eyes widened in surprise as she cursed under her breath. Shit. She forgot about the twins!
Hikaru roughly shoved her down on her seat, and she could barely register Kaoru trying to fight his brother to let go of her collar.
"What is it with you and that guy huh!? What, you like spending time with him that much?"
She struggled in his grasp until Mori got up and forced him off of her. She couldn't tell then, but the man's usually stoic face was morphed in anger and disappointment as he threw the redhead all the way to the end of the limo.
Huni stood up to do the same thing for Kaoru, but the boy voluntarily moved away from Haruhi in order to be by his brother's side. Soon the third-years replaced the twins in order to protect the girl from anymore harm.
"You can't leave!" Hikaru continued to yell while clutching his arm. "You're our toy! You belong to us! You'll never be able to leave!"
"I'm not a toy!" She screamed at them now, letting them hear all the pent up aggression she'd been storing all this time. "I'm not a toy, I'm not a dog, I'm not a doll, and I'm for damn sure not your slave."
She pointed an accusatory finger at Tamaki who seemed to shocked to even move from his spot.
"I was never your daughter and you'll never be like my dad! You're selfish, arrogant, and fucking delusional! You just think you can do anything you want cause you look good? You think I'll just be like the girls in the club who saw over everything you do? You're disgusting! You disgust me! I never want you anywhere near me again!"
Her finger then shifted to point at the twins.
"And you two! I'm a person, not some piece of property! You can't just go an grab me all the time without my consent and just drag me wherever you want! I'm not some damn abnormality that you two can just fawn over! I'm sick of it and I'm sick of your egos!"
She turned to the two upperclassmen beside her and they braced themselves for her words, but even she hesitated a bit.
"The two of you always pretended to be there for everyone, that you wanted everyone to get along and not fight. But you didn't stop it either. You guys just watched as they did whatever expecting me to take it just because I never said anything before. The two of you could've helped but you never did. I don't know what made you guys change your attitudes lately, but that doesn't excuse all the stuff you let me go through in the past."
She pointed one last glare at Kyoya, but she was already emotionally spent. Her throat tightened but she willed the words to come out anyway.
"And you Kyoya-senpai. You're the real demon here aren't you? You think I didn't know? You've been unfairly adding more and more to my debt so that I'd never get out. I was supposed to drown in it and owe you guys my services forever. You really expected me to work my ass off for you for that long without ever complaining? Well I won't let you hang my debt over my head like that anymore. I'll figure out another way to pay off that stupid debt and when I do, I want nothing to do with any of you anymore."
She grabbed her all of her stuff and ran out of the car.
It was convenient that they'd stopped at a red light. Hell, even if the car was still moving she would've risked jumping out still. They couldn't stop her from running, it'd cause a scene that Kyoya wouldn't have wanted to deal with. That was her only rational thought as she ran as fast as her legs could take her.
She ran and ran and ran until the blurry scenery around her started look familiar. Next thing she knew, she was slamming the door of her home open and collapsed out of breath in her own living room. Her chest heaved heavily and her heart thumped wildly with the flowing adrenaline in her veins. Tears gathered in her eyes but she refused to let them fall.
She wouldn't cry because she left. They made their decision and she made hers. She had never cried about any decision she made in the past and she wasn't about to do that now. There was nothing to regret.
"Haruhi? Haruhi is that you?"
She cursed under her breath forgetting that her father would be off from work for the next few days. Right, they were supposed to leave for Okinawa the next morning. This was supposed to be the start to a very pleasant vacation with her friend's family but it started out leaving a bitter taste in her mouth.
"…Haruhi what's wrong?"
Long arms enveloped her into a tight hug, and Haruhi could tell that she had caught him in the middle of preparing dinner. It reminded her of when she was younger, before her mom had passed away. He prepared a special dinner for them to celebrate a tough case that her mom managed to win.
So was this her win? Was she finally…free?
A single tear fell from her eyes, and then others followed. She wrapped her arms around her father and sobbed into his chest. The father hugged his daughter tighter, rubbing her back soothingly as she let her emotions run their course. Eventually her crying subsided, and after that Haruhi made up her mind.
So she told him everything. From the debt that was somehow kept from him, the way she was treated in the club, how her and Umehito actually became friends, and the plan they concocted to get the Host club off her back. She told him about all the moments they shared together, how he prioritized her wishes above everything else, what the hosts had done to him, how they reacted after finding out about their weekend trip, and how she cut off ties with them just earlier.
"Haruhi…I'm so sorry dear…I had no idea."
"No, it's not your fault dad. I thought that I could do this all myself. It's all my fault."
He gave her one more squeeze before parting from her. He used his shirt to wipe his daughter's tear-stained cheeks.
"What do you want to do now Haruhi?"
After suffering so much, all Ranka wanted to do was to make sure his daughter will only make happy memories from now on. He definitely wasn't ready to let another man be that source of happiness for sure, but if her new friend could make her feel better…then maybe he could let it slide. Just this once.
Haruhi was quiet for a moment. Her thoughts were in a jumble after so much happening. However, one thing was for certain.
…she wanted to see those cheerful blue eyes again.
"I still have to pack for tomorrow."
a/n: Jesus this was a hard chapter to write for some reason. It's probably because I don't really like writing confrontation that much? Anyway, sorry it took so long! Hopefully the next few chapters will be easier to write than this one was.