Jungle Pool S.O.S.

Jacklyn sighed as she dropped her head back, lifting one of her hands to block out the sun so she could enjoy the bright blue sky. Beside her, a large palm tree stretched up to contrast the perfect blue with its' rich dark green fronds. She could just faintly hear the caws of tropical birds against the sound of running water. It was so peaceful and exotic, Jacklyn could almost forget she was in Japan at all.

"What do you think?"

Jacklyn turned to face her boyfriend with a wide smile. "It's gorgeous, Kyo-kun."

"I'm glad you like it," Kyoya said, returning her smile with a small one of his own. "I had to pull a few strings for us to be allowed in, but I thought you would like it. You did say you missed going to the lake during your summer vacations in America."

Jacklyn felt her whole chest grow warm, for a reason other than the building's heating system. "You remembered me saying that?"

"Yes." At loud splash distracted Kyoya for a moment, causing him to frown and look further into the park. "Although I truly intended for it to just be the two of us."

Jacklyn followed Kyoya's line of sight. The rest of the Host Club had already made themselves at home around the pools nearest to the tables and reclining chairs. Hikaru and Kaoru were racing each other around the first pool while Honey was making Mori drag him around the water. They were all going to be exhausted within the hour. Tamaki and Haruhi, who were hanging out by the tables, already looked like they were ready to take a long nap in the heat.

Shaking her head, but still smiling, Jacklyn gently nudged Kyoya's arm. "It's alright, Kyo-kun. It was a sweet idea for a date, but I'll still have fun with the others being here. I love water parks."

"I know."

Jacklyn opened her mouth to question how he knew, but she then heard Haruhi ask loudly for directions to the exit. She decided her friend needed some enjoyable company more than she needed answers. She'd ask Kyoya just how much he "knew" if she still remembered at the end of the day. With one last brush against Kyoya's arm, Jacklyn walked across the sandy tiles towards Haruhi, her blue flip flops snapping against the bottoms of her feet with every step. They had come with the swimsuit she chose to wear for the day, and so far Jacklyn had minimal complaints with the color and design of both. They both fit her well enough, at least.

"Personally I think this is pointless and a waste of time," Haruhi snarked back against whatever comment Tamaki had made.

Jacklyn bit back a laugh as she came up to her friend. "Well you certainly don't mince words, do you Haruhi?"

Haruhi scoffed, but cast Jacklyn a wary look out of the corner of her eye.

"What?" Jacklyn asked.

"Did you help plan this at all?" Haruhi fired back.

"No," Jacklyn said.

"Good. Then I still think it's pointless and a waste of time. I had a list of chores I wanted to get done today."

Jacklyn bit at her lower lip and looked around, trying to think of something that would convince her friend this could be a fun time. "Your chores will be there when you get back. I'm sure there's nothing that can't wait for another day. We're just having a nice, spur of the moment day trip. These don't come around often, you know?"

"Still… I should be studying for next week's exam. Where are we, anyways?"

"That, I can answer," Jacklyn said. "This is a brand new Tropical Aqua Garden that the Ootori Group, Kyo-kun's family, runs. It's been branded as a sort of aquatic theme park, but it's going to advertise a positive influence on mental health when it officially opens next month." She heard the sound of a chair being pulled across the tile floor and turned to face the sound. "Did I get that right, Kyo-kun?"

Kyoya had settled at a nearby table that was covered by a wide umbrella, a green drink in hand that matched the red drink on the table beside his elbow. He nodded and said, "Exactly right. The Ootori Group is hoping to draw in those who can not afford to travel, either because of money or time constraints. The Ootori Group's primary concern has always been for the good health and wellbeing of the public. And since that particular demographic would include families with children, we installed a wide range of entertaining and enjoyable attractions."

Jacklyn sat down at Kyoya's claimed table and grabbed the red drink, taking a tentative sip through the straw. Lemonade. Haruhi muttered something about the whole thing sounding suspicious, and Jacklyn couldn't blame her. It was hard to imagine a corporation as wealthy as the Ootori Group to be thinking of anything other than lining the pockets of those at the very top.

Kyoya's not like that, though, Jacklyn thought, gazing at her boyfriend from over the rim of her drink. Not entirely. Being financially stable is important to him… but he cares about other things, too. And people. Like me. She set her drink back down and smacked her lips a few times, thinking hard over the flavor. Kyoya hadn't told her the options carried by the kitchen, but if she had to guess...

"Raspberry?"

"Correct," Kyoya said. "Is it to your liking? The café also offers strawberry flavored lemonade, if you'd prefer. I know you like the red drinks."

"No, I like this one just fine." Jacklyn took another sip and looked out at the park. Other than the faint tang of chlorine in the air and the waterslides in the distance, the Aqua Garden was as far away from a water park as could be. Jacklyn's only indoor waterpark experience had been Avalanche Bay at Boyne Falls, up near the top of Michigan's lower peninsula. She wasn't sure if the differences placed the Aqua Garden higher or lower on her list of "enjoyable places".

"Jacklyn? Is there any particular attraction you'd like to see first?" Kyoya asked.

Jacklyn shrugged, already embarrassed from what she was about to say. "Nothing really… I actually just want to spend some time with you. A-alone. We haven't really hung out much outside of school and club activities except for that one dinner, so… yeah. Y'know…"

She shoved her straw back in her mouth. What kind of an ending was that? She didn't dare look Kyoya in the eye. Smug bastard was probably laughing at her.

"Oh." Kyoya set his drink down, half finished. "I suppose we haven't…"

Well… maybe she could risk a quick peek?

Jacklyn glanced at her boyfriend and was shocked to see that he also looked a bit flustered by her request, one finger tapping against his leg seemingly unconsciously. Wrestling down her anxiety, Jacklyn sucked in a steadying breath and spoke as she exhaled, "Maybe you could give me a private tour?"

Kyoya's gaze immediately cut back to her, eyes wide with surprise. Jacklyn took another drink. There. It was out in the open. Now, the ball was in Kyoya's court. After a moment of processing her words, Kyoya smiled teasingly and leaned a little further in her direction.

"While I would normally jump at the chance to give you a tour of the facilities, I'm afraid there are too many undeveloped areas to make it entirely exciting. However… there is a small private cove I think you will enjoy not too far from here. It was designed to model after an onsen..."

Jacklyn blushed and looked away, though a part of her knew Kyoya mentioned onsens strictly to tease her. "You're lucky Tamaki didn't hear that. He's been protective of me lately."

"He'll get over himself," Kyoya said. "You're my girlfriend. Not his."

"And yet he was able to weasel himself and the others into the date you planned for us today," Jacklyn teased back, smiling at the "not-pout" Kyoya was now wearing. Kyoya opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off by the sight of the twins running across the tile and spraying those around them with excess water from the pool.

"Haruhi! Let's go check out the waterslide!"

"Hang on… what's with that ugly pullover? I thought you were told to pick a swimsuit when we got here. Jacklyn got to pick one, too."

At the mention of her name, Jacklyn looked down at her outfit. It was true. She wasn't that big of a fan of swimming, let alone swimming in open water like the ocean, so she hadn't bothered to pack a swimsuit for her time abroad. And even if she had, there wasn't any time to stop at her apartment between the school and the Aqua Garden for her to grab one. Instead, she had been told to follow the twins as they dragged Haruhi to the women's changing room. There, they had handed her and Haruhi off to a pair of maids, tasked with picking a swimsuit to borrow from Mrs. Hitachiin's most recent summer line.

While Haruhi needed more coercion to start looking for a swimsuit, Jacklyn was allowed to roam the racks of outfits on her own. There weren't many that fit her size, as she was a lot taller than the average Japanese woman, and most that did fit weren't exactly her style. In the end, she had grabbed the first one-piece she could find in her size. It wasn't half bad, either. It was made of multiple shades of blue, and was designed to look like thick strips of fabric woven together, the different blues slashing across one another. There was no back, which made her feel a little more exposed than she would've liked, but in the end she just decided to bear it for a day. Kyoya seemed to like it at least, if the way his fingers had trailed over her bare skin as he led her away from the changing room earlier was any sign.

"Jack-chan!"

"Huh?" Jacklyn's head jerked up, giving her a mere second to prepare for the blond and pink blur that was launching itself into her lap. She quickly held her lemonade to the side before it spilled all over her, though it did splash a bit on her hand at Honey's impact.

"Jack-chan!" Honey cheered, grabbing hold of Jacklyn's shoulders so his inner tube didn't push him completely off her lap. "Haru-chan doesn't wanna go swimming, so do you wanna come with me instead?"

"She doesn't?" Jacklyn asked, peering over the top of Honey's head. She blinked. When had Renge gotten there? And why was Tamaki curled up on the ground, pouting? Actually, scratch that last one. That's normal for him. "Uh… Kyoya?"

"Go on, Jacklyn. I'll take care of the others for a moment. I just want you to have fun today, so I'll come get you later for that... tour. Take good care of her for me, won't you, Honey-senpai?"

"Mhm! C'mon, Jack-chan!"

Jacklyn managed to set her drink down before she was being pulled out of her chair and over to the current pool. Honey pulled her all the way to the edge before letting go of her wrist and jumping into the water, calling out for Takeshi just before he hit the water. Mori turned and joined Jacklyn in watching the small boy drift along in his pink inner tube. Jacklyn smiled at her friend. How adorable. She turned to look up at Mori-senpai and asked, "Are you going to swim too, Senpai?"

He nodded once before taking a step forward and dropping into the pool, the water barely reaching halfway up his chest. Then, it was his turn to look up at her. He gave his head a slight tilt.

"Not right now," Jacklyn responded, moving to sit down at the edge of the current pool. She shivered as she stuck her legs into the water. "I think I'll just sit here for a while and get used to the water."

Mori nodded again before taking off down the pool after Honey. Jacklyn sighed and leaned back a little on her hands. The current was pulling strongly at her feet, reminding her of the Lazy Rivers at the waterparks back home. They had been her brother's favorite, while Jacklyn preferred the wave pools. Maybe there was one of those here?

"Hey, check it out, everybody!"

Jacklyn tilted her head at the sight just slightly downriver from where she sat. Mori had reached Honey-senpai, and somehow he had been convinced to carry his cousin on his back as he swam hard against the current. Jacklyn had to admire his strength. The pair weren't moving any further down the river. That was a lot of gallons of water he was fighting against.

Jacklyn watched, keeping a mental timer in her head as Mori swam hard. Sure enough, not even a minute passed before he was drifting towards the sides and climbing out of the water, panting a little heavily. She smiled up at the tall boy. "You lasted longer than I thought you would. Nice work."

Mori scoffed a bit at her tone. Honey whined and pulled on Mori's arm.

"C'mon, Takeshi. Are you really tired already?"

"Ah, leave him alone, Honey-senpai. Let the poor boy rest," Jacklyn said.

"Mmm… okay. I'll swim on my own then!" Honey didn't wait for a response, spinning around on his heel before jumping back into the water. He started churning his legs against the current, already panting a bit. Jacklyn gave him thirty seconds before he took a break like his cousin.

Speaking of, Jacklyn felt a gentle touch on her shoulder and turned back to Mori. He was looking at her imploringly and she smiled. "I'll keep an eye on him. Don't worry."

"Thanks," Mori said before walking off. Jacklyn watched him go, taking the time to scope out where the others were. Hikaru and Kaoru had somehow convinced Tamaki to join in their water gun war, the three boys running around in a way that was definitely a bit dangerous considering the slick tiles that dotted the cement floor. At the tables, away from the watery destruction, Jacklyn saw Haruhi drinking her own fruit drink in Jacklyn's vacated seat while Kyoya looked on. As she watched, her boyfriend looked away from the water gun fight and met her eyes.

Jacklyn grinned and waved at Kyoya, who gave a little wave back. She giggled and turned back around, savoring the bubbly feeling in her chest. Hopefully she and Kyoya would have a few moments to themselves today. That would be nice.

The floor shook beneath her and Jacklyn froze.

"What was that?" she questioned aloud to no one in particular.

"Huh?" was Honey's response. Jacklyn looked over to her friend, making sure he was okay, when she noticed a shadow cresting his face. Turning to her left, Jacklyn screamed at the sight of the giant wave bearing down on them both. Behind her, she barely heard Kyoya and Haruhi calling her name before the wave crashing into her, knocking her into the water and sweeping her away.

*\/*

"Jacklyn! Honey-senpai!"

Haruhi ran after Mori, her eyes trained on the wave currently washing her friends down river. In the back of her mind, she knew there was no way they'd catch up with the wave, but she also couldn't just sit back and do nothing. Not even when Mori tripped over his own two feet on his way to Honey's rescue. Or when Tamaki, of all people, was the one to come up with a rescue plan.

"Alright men, we're going after Honey-senpai and Jacklyn! That pool over there looks like the quickest way! Chaaaarge!" Tamaki shouted, running off to the side, Haruhi, Hikaru, Kaoru, and Mori on his heels.

"Wait! Not that way!" Kyoya called after them, but it was too late.

"Alligators!" Haruhi screamed, jumping back onto Mori's toes.

"Why are there alligators here?" Hikaru and Kaoru questioned, both trying to drag the other out of harm's way and just ending in a tangle of limbs.

After scrambling onto safer ground, Haruhi turned to Kyoya with a glare. "Mind telling us why there are alligators running wild in your… park…" She trailed off, finally getting a good look at her senpai.

Kyoya was panting quite heavily, despite having not followed the others into the alligator's path. His hands were shaking as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, voice forcefully calm as he said, "There's a map of the park over there. Let's… let's go look at it."

Haruhi wasn't the only one to notice Kyoya's change in demeanor, everyone keeping their thoughts to themselves as Kyoya led them to the edge of the forest where a large map was set up. It wasn't completed, something made obvious by how the map was frayed at the edges and pinned to the board with only a few thumbtacks. In fact, it looked like it was meant for construction workers to locate their next project inside the building.

Kyoya pressed his finger to the top of the map, where the park looked the most completed. "We're here, at the main pool by the front entrance, and this is the course of the current pool throughout the park. Given the amount of water in the wave, I'd estimate Jacklyn and Honey-senpai ended up around here before they were able to climb out. It would be quicker for us to cut through this jungle area, but it's still about 800 meters of walking."

"Looks like there are a lot of undeveloped areas," Haruhi mentioned. A lot was almost an understatement. At least two-thirds of the park areas had post-it notes attached to them with big question marks drawn on them. "Any idea what might be in there?"

"Unfortunately, no." Kyoya was staring intently at the map, like he was trying to memorize it. "I actually had to ask for special permission for everyone to be here today on the grounds that I'd inform the developers what could be improved within the park before more areas were finalized."

"So you were treating us like guinea pigs?" Tamaki asked, scandalized. "That's why you invited us out today?"

"I didn't invite you!" Kyoya snapped. Tamaki stumbled back a step, eyes blown wide in shock. Kyoya didn't seem to care, and instead continued to scold his friend. "It was supposed to be a date for me and Jacklyn, no one else. If you hadn't overheard me inviting Jacklyn out and put your nose in where it didn't belong, no one would've hit that tidal wave button and Jacklyn would still be safe."

A choked noise escaped from between Tamaki's lips. Kyoya glared at him a little longer before turning around and following the marked path into the forest.

*\/*

The Host Club walked in total silence. The animal sounds and general ambiance of the jungle didn't help with calming the group's tension either. Kyoya was still seething as he led the group onward. Mori-senpai was out of it, too, tripping over his own two feet every minute or so. Tamaki was in the back, his arms crossed tightly over his chest like he was cold. His eyes were brimmed with tears, and while that wasn't uncommon during Tamaki's daily emotional rollercoasters, the others didn't mention it this time. They had never seen Kyoya get so mad before, let alone lash out like that. Even when Renge had first arrived, he had kept his calm demeanor.

As if mirroring the mood, not long after they had entered the forest the crystal clear blue sky suddenly clouded over, accompanied by a roll of thunder. Everyone stopped in their tracks and looked up, even Kyoya took a break from his stiff marching. He gave the clouds a brief glance before peering at his wristwatch.

"Oh great. It's time for the squall." He sighed and looked further down the path, lips pursed in annoyance. "Come on. There's a pavilion nearby where we can take shelter for the time being. It should only last a few minutes anyways."

They barely made it before the downpour hit. The sudden shower did nothing to lower the humidity and Haruhi quickly began to fan herself with her yellow pullover. Tamaki noticed and looked out into the storm. Guilt gave his stomach another cruel twist.

The heat did nothing to stop Haruhi from breaking the silence, however, and she suddenly asked, "Hey, Mori-senpai? I've noticed how worried you are for Honey-senpai. Have you two known each other for a long time?"

"Uh, duh, Haruhi," Hikaru answered.

"They're cousins," Kaoru finished.

Haruhi gasped. "You're kidding, they're related? How come I was never told?"

"The Morinozuka family has served the Haninozuka family for centuries. The two families weren't related to each other until two generations ago, by marriage," Kyoya said. Everyone turned to face him, but Kyoya was keeping his eyes training on the path they had been following. Much like Mori, he didn't seem entirely present for the conversation.

Haruhi stood and walked across the pavilion floor, coming to a stop at Mori's elbow. She gently touched his arm. "It's gonna be okay, Mori-senpai. You too, Kyoya-senpai. Honey-senpai and Jacklyn are both smart enough to take care of themselves and each other. Remember, they're not out there alone, and we know they're still in the building somewhere. Maybe… Kyoya-senpai, do you know if there's anyone else in here? Maybe they can help us look?"

Kyoya finally turned away from the storm, something coming back to life behind his eyes. Without another word, he pulled his phone out from his pocket and made a call. Mori smiled down at Haruhi and gave her head a gentle pat. Hikaru and Kaoru ran over as well, nuzzling Haruhi's cheeks and congratulating her on getting Kyoya and Mori out of their funks.

Tamaki watched as his friends started making rescue plans without him. He didn't blame them for ignoring him. It was his fault they were all in this mess anyways. Even Mori-senpai knew that there would be a position open as Haruhi's daddy soon, the older boy already making his move.

I have to fix this, otherwise they'll vote me out of the Host Club and have me replaced. No, I can't let that happen! I must find Jacklyn and Honey-senpai!

*\/*

"Yes… yes, thank you. At once, please. I understand." Kyoya hung up and let out a soft sigh, already feeling the extra tension bleeding out of his shoulders. Hikaru and Kaoru were standing in front of him, watching expectantly, so he spoke directly to them.

"That was the Captain of the security team for the building. He's sending out search parties to look for Jacklyn and Honey-senpai and guide them back to the front entrance. He told us to go back and wait for them all there."

The twins laughed in relief. Kyoya could relate. He couldn't believe he'd been so worried that he'd entirely forgotten about the security guards. They were the whole reason he had given his own personal guards the afternoon off, after all. He could now rest easy, knowing his girlfriend would soon be in safe, capable hands before being returned to his side.

That's one calamity solved. Now I have to patch things up with Tamaki, Kyoya thought privately. He wasn't looking forward to it, well aware of how long Tamaki could mope about if he so chose, but it was necessary. It wasn't entirely Tamaki's fault the designer had chosen such a careless position for the wave pool button. No doubt the blond was feeling incredibly guilty.

"Wait…" Kaoru was looking around the pavilion, eyebrows drawn together. "Where are Haruhi and Mori-senpai?"

"And where's Tamaki?" Hikaru added. Kyoya looked around. The last of the rain was still dripping from the straw roof, and there was no sign of the other three members of their group.

Forget the apology. I'm going to kill him.

*Elsewhere*

"Alright," Tamaki panted, shoving another wide leaf out of the way. "Making progress. Taking this brilliant shortcut… beating the others to Jacklyn and Honey-senpai… patching up friendship with Kyoya… impress Haruhi beyond a reasonable doubt… and remain Haruhi's daddy and the King of the Host Club."

The blond nodded to himself and came to a stop by the trunk of a large palm tree. Pulling a map out of his back pocket, he unfolded it and studied the squiggly lines drawn across the paper. He stuck out his bottom lip as he tried to figure where he was and where he was going. He'd never been the best at map reading in class and this map in particular was for when the park was completed... but, he had a good feeling about it. He just had to stay positive and-

"Waah!"

He fell face first into a rather sticky plant. The good news was he used his hands to catch himself before he actually hit the ground. The bad news was he had two ends of the map in his hands, and the fall ended up ripping the whole thing down the middle and a bit to the left.

"Umm…" Tamaki scrambled back to his feet and looked at the two pieces of map dangling uselessly from his fists. "Right. Well, I'm sure I'm heading in the right direction anyways. There probably aren't any more live animal exhibits this way. Kyoya would've said…" Tamaki stopped talking, though he forced his feet to continue moving. Thinking about his best friend made Tamaki's chest hurt. He knew Kyoya was just worried about Jacklyn and Tamaki had been in the way of his anger, but that didn't keep Tamaki from feeling guilty. If Jacklyn or Honey got hurt…

Tamaki stepped out of the jungle and entered a small clearing. Confused, he stopped and looked around. There wasn't anything around, but the Ootori's wouldn't have cleared out the space for no reason. Maybe it was where another attraction would go in the future? Or… it was the home for a big animal that was about to jump out of the bushes and eat him.

The plants rustled behind him and Tamaki yelped in fear, jumping away and almost falling over. To his surprise, it wasn't an animal, it was a person. And not only that, it was a person he recognized.

"Mori-senpai?" He looked at what his senpai was carrying and gasped. "Haruhi! You came after me!"

"Uh… actually-"

"FREEZE!"

Haruhi's reply, whatever it was going to be, was cut off by the order. Tamaki barely had a moment to spin around when they were suddenly surrounded by men dressed in full tactical gear. Tamaki could feel his heart slamming against his ribs, and it darn near popped out of his mouth when he felt a large hand grab hold of his arm and pull him backwards. A shrill scream escaped his mouth before he realized it was just Mori-senpai bringing him closer. Hopefully Haruhi had been too distracted to notice the sound.

"Target A confirmed!"

Tamaki gulped as he stared into the black helmet visors of the men surrounding them. Who are these men? Are they squatters? No, they mentioned a target… did that make them kidnappers? Or members of a militia group bent on taking down the Ootori Group?

"The target has been captured by two suspicious men. Target B not in sight. We will be taking Target A into custody."

Two suspicious men… they're after Haruhi! Tamaki felt faint. They are kidnappers! Do they already have Jacklyn and Honey? This is all my fault!

The men approached hesitantly, demanding that Mori hand over Haruhi to them. Tamaki's hands were shaking even as he curled them into fists by his side. No one was going to take Haruhi! He wasn't about to let another member of his club go missing!

"Mori-senpai! Get ready to-"

"Tamaki! Mori-senpai! Duck!"

Tamaki gasped and spun to his left. That was Jacklyn! But how-

"Uwah!" He yelped once again as he was pushed forcefully down into the dirt. Rolling over, he saw Mori-senpai on his hands and knees, shielding Haruhi with his body even as he looked up. Soon enough, Tamaki found out why.

"Hey! What do you think- AUGH!"

Honey-senpai flew out of the brush surrounding the group, slamming his feet heel first into a man's face. With an oddly horrific giggle, Honey launched himself at the surrounding kidnappers, flipping most of them over his shoulder and into the dirt. Someone's gun skittered across the dirt in Tamaki's direction and he quickly curled up into a tight ball. Around him, he heard the end of the fight, a mixture of grunts and pained shouts as Honey-senpai took them all out. He knew he should've felt more afraid for Honey's safety and probably his own, but he couldn't stop the wide grin stretching across his face. Jacklyn and Honey were okay!

"You guys should be more careful with who you mess with! Picking on my friends is not okay!" Honey shouted. His words were met with silence, save a few moans of pain. Tamaki raised his head and surveyed the damage. The men who had once surrounded the clearing were now sprawled about in a loose circle in the dirt. Most looked simply stunned, while others were completely knocked out.

A rustle sounded from a nearby bush as Jacklyn came out of hiding. There was a leaf stuck in her hair and a few smudges of dirt around her bare feet, but otherwise she looked no worse for wear. Same went for Honey-senpai. Tamaki exhaled heavily in relief and jumped up to his feet, pulling Jacklyn into a tight hug when she came close enough.

"I was so worried about you two," he cried, squeezing his friend tightly. She laughed gently against his shoulder, but hugged him back. Tamaki sniffled and opened his mouth to begin his apology, which he had been working on in the back of his mind since he set foot in the jungle, when Honey excitedly called out to someone.

Kyoya and the twins were hurrying up the same path Tamaki, Mori and Haruhi had taken. Hikaru and Kaoru paused at the edge of the clearing, gasping in wonderment at the unconscious men, but Kyoya continued stalking towards the group. Tamaki hastily released Jacklyn from his hug and backed away. Hugging his best friend's girlfriend was probably not a good way to get back into his good graces. At least Jacklyn didn't seem awkward. She was already holding out her arms for Kyoya, a grin lighting up her face.

Without hesitation, Kyoya pulled Jacklyn into his chest. He tucked his face into her neck and brought his right arm up around her shoulders to hold her to him. His left hand, however, swung outwards until it curled around Tamaki's arm. Tamaki felt himself being pulled forward until he collapsed against the hugging couple. He had three seconds to realize he was in a group hug with them before it was over. Kyoya took a step backwards, keeping Jacklyn at his side, and immediately began to rant.

"What on Earth were you thinking, Tamaki? You know you're terrible at reading maps! How could you think going off on your own would be a good idea? You already knew there could well be dangerous creatures and equipment in this forest, and yet you went off the path like some manga hero! The only reason I'm not angrier at you right now is because you at least brought Mori-senpai along with you. Haruhi I'm surprised by, but my point stands." Kyoya let out a breath and went to adjust his glasses when Haruhi chimed in.

"Uhhh… actually, I followed Mori-senpai into the woods because he said we were going the wrong way. We found Tamaki-senpai just before these men showed up and surrounded us."

Tamaki gulped as Kyoya's expression somehow darkened. So much for getting his friend to forgive him. He winced preemptively as Kyoya opened his mouth again.

"You're a dumbass. Are any of you hurt?"

Jacklyn shook her head, leaning into Kyoya's embrace without a shred of embarrassment. "Honey-senpai stepped in before anything happened. We're all okay."

Kyoya glared down at the guards who were slowly starting to come around. "It's better than they deserve. I will have to take a look as to how they define a "Search and Rescue" team. We can't have them treating our future guests like this in the future."

"Hang on," Haruhi piped up. "How was Honey-senpai even able to do that?"

"Wait, seriously?" Kaoru raised an eyebrow.

Hikaru shook his head in disbelief. "I know you're new to the upper class scene, Haruhi, but I thought the Haninozuka name was more recognizable than that. It's famous across Japan."

"Famous? For what?"

"Martial arts and Kendo. Respectively," Kyoya explained, taking his role as exposition quite seriously. Save, of course, for the fact that he wasn't even looking at Haruhi as he spoke, more focused on brushing the leaves out of Jacklyn's hair and checking her over for unknown cuts. "The Haninozuka family has a hand in police training around Tokyo and other nearby prefectures. Most members of Japan's military have some form of Haninozuka training, as well. Honey-senpai in particular has been called the dregnaugh of the Haninozuka family. He's one of the most trained and deadly members of the family currently alive. He became the national karate and judo champion by the time he graduated middle school. Mori-senpai also became a national champion in Kendo around the same time."

Haruhi looked faint. Tamaki, upon noticing, nearly tripped over his own two feet in his haste to steady her. He did trip when Hikaru stuck his foot out in front of him. By the time Tamaki had scrambled back to his feet, the twins were already bracing Haruhi up by her shoulders. The poor girl was so shocked by the reveal of Honey's talents that she didn't even appear to notice Tamaki's outraged reaction to the twins standing so close to her.

Hikaru and Kaoru were outright ignoring Tamaki's meltdown, plugging the ear facing him while asking Jacklyn, "Wait, how did you guys end up here? The end of the current pool is still a long ways off."

Jacklyn shrugged, clearly enjoying the attention Kyoya was doting upon her. "When we got to the end of the pool, we decided to try following it back to you guys. We figured we'd meet up in the middle, but then we heard Tamaki's screaming and came looking."

"We humbly apologize!"

Everyone turned around in surprise. While they had all been paying attention to each other, the guardsmen had come to and moved to one side of the clearing. There, they had arranged themselves in two semicircle rows and knelt in the traditional dogeza pose facing Honey-senpai. Jacklyn gasped a little. She'd never seen the dogeza pose in real life before.

"Um… why?" Honey asked. "I'm the one who fought you all."

"We were out of line with our actions. We had no idea we were looking for the Great Mitsukuni Haninozuka and Master Kyoya's girlfriend. We've committed a terrible offense here by acting far too harshly towards you and your friends! Please forgive us!"

"Oh! Well, I forgive you. You didn't hurt anybody and learned your lesson!" Honey said cheerfully, giving the guardsmen a short bow before prancing off to praise Mori-senpai for his quick thinking. The guardsmen relaxed for a few seconds, exchanging relieved smiles with each other before facing forward again and spotting one of their employers glaring down at them. Tamaki had never seen so many faces go from elated to horrified so quickly.

Kyoya glared down his nose at the men before stiffly informing them, "I will be having words with your chief commander. And you will be expected to attend a future class on how to properly treat patrons at this facility."

"Yes, Master Kyoya!" The guards shouted, backs as straight as humanly possible, but Kyoya wasn't paying them any attention. He had already returned to Jacklyn, pulling her into his side and guiding her to the path he had come from.

*\/*

The sun was starting to dip below the horizon when they finally re-emerged from the jungle. The glass ceiling was a gorgeous mess of orange, yellow and pink with hints of purple creeping up the far side of the building. But Tamaki couldn't find it within himself to appreciate the beauty at the moment. He was too busy gathering his courage for what he had to do next.

With tense shoulders and beads of sweat already appearing on his forehead, Tamaki spun around and walked to the back of the group. Haruhi gave him a fleeting glance, but the twins were quick to continue sweeping her forward towards the front doors. He'd have to reprimand them for that later, but right now he had bigger things to worry about. Namely, how Kyoya would react to Tamaki interrupting him and Jacklyn yet again today.

The couple had dropped to the rear soon after they all started walking back to the front pools. Likely for privacy, but possibly because they were both exhausted from the day and didn't want to be swept up into the conversation. Tamaki felt another spike of guilt, as he was about to apologize for disrupting their privacy earlier. He fell into step beside Kyoya and did his best to return the smile Jacklyn aimed in his direction.

"I, uh…" He coughed once, trying to fight off the feeling of his throat closing up. "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry. For ruining your date and-"

"Stop right there."

Tamaki froze in place, eyes immediately zeroing in on where he was about to step. Considering the way the day had gone, he would honestly have not been surprised to find out he was about to step on the tail of an alligator or a panther. Terrified, but not surprised. To his great relief, however, there were no signs of an animal anywhere near him. He looked back up and found Kyoya and Jacklyn watching him, having also stopped.

"I should be the one apologizing," Kyoya said. "I was mad earlier, but I shouldn't have taken it out on you. You clearly didn't activate the wave pool on purpose and you were just as concerned for Jacklyn's safety as I was. It was wrong of me to snap at you-"

"I forgive you, mon ami!" Tamaki launched himself at his best friend, tears of joy brimming in his eyes as he hugged Kyoya tightly. His friend immediately began smacking at Tamaki's back, telling him to let go and calling him an idiot, but Tamaki knew Kyoya was secretly enjoying it. Or at least Jacklyn was, the girl giggling from somewhere nearby.

"Hey, we should head to the beach next week!"

"Yeah! Especially since we didn't get to enjoy the park as much as we planned too!"

With all good things restored in the world, Tamaki finally released Kyoya from his hug and ran ahead, chiming into the conversation on how best to spend the next weekend together.

*\/*

Left behind in Tamaki's dust, Kyoya was angrily trying to fix his shirt that had been ruffled during the tight hug. Jacklyn was of no help, seemingly content with watching her boyfriend mutter to himself as he straightened his glasses properly on his nose.

"Glad to see you still managed to enjoy today," he said.

Jacklyn hummed and stepped closer, adjusting Kyoya's shirt collar. "A little. I would've liked to have spent more time with you, though. Can we try again at the beach next weekend?"

"Whatever you'd like."

Kyoya's collar was finally flipped the right way, but Jacklyn's hands lingered on his shoulders. He was tempted to reach out and settle his own hands on her hips. It would almost look like they were slow dancing if he did. But before he could decide whether that was an ideal move or not, Jacklyn had backed away.

"You must've been pretty worried if you snapped at Tamaki," Jacklyn said.

He nodded. "I was. Greatly." Kyoya hesitated for another moment before raising his hands.

"Oi, lovebirds! Get over here so we can start planning!" Kaoru called out. He and the rest of the club had already gathered by the changing rooms. Jacklyn's face flushed red upon seeing all their friends watching them. With one last shy smile, she took Kyoya's wrist in hand and guided him towards the others.

Awww... isn't Kyoya such a softie? At least in my stories he is.

I hope you liked this! I'm just glad I finally finished it.

See you next chapter!