Hey all! Here is the next chapter! I hope you enjoy it!
ALSO A POLL question! I have an idea between two of the host club members for Haruhi to end up with. BUT I don't want to give away the surprise of whom it is (just know it's not Tamaki. He is a loveable idiot, but he had his moment in the anime/ manga. So this story is for the others who didn't get a chance.) So please send me reviews with who your favorite Haruhi pairing is! Because her romance will be starting soon and I have idea's but I haven't settled on a firm idea of which one to go with yet, so here is your chance to vote for your favorite!
Reviewers response:
aleesky: Thanks so much! My baby is finished his antibiotics and is feeling back to his super smiley, content and goofy self! I just hope he doesn't get sick again before April, he has a surgery planned to hopefully correct his health problem. So fingers crossed. Although I am not too worried about it. He is the 6th member in my family with this specific issue (so he comes by it honestly) and it usually is solved by this surgery. So we are hopeful he will live a long and more healthy life after it. My brother and I had to go through this when we were both 2, and then years later my cousins on my moms side all had it. So my mother and my aunt and my grandmother have all been super helpful and supportive. It's nothing too serious (until he gets sick like last week), but somehow this is only the second time since he was born that he has gotten sick because of his health issue. So I REALLY have my fingers crossed he will continue to stay generally healthy until his surgery. Its only 3 months away. But no matter what, while I am in the hospital with him for his recovery, I will be writing when he is sleeping. Writing is my emotional outlet, and I LOVE writing. So no matter what the next 3 months bring, I will definitely finish this story! ;)
Kagome was going over the pamphlet that Sesshoumaru had handed her. Safety forms as well as registration information. He was quietly working on his laptop sitting across from her as she dutifully worked on the package. She frowned as she came across one of the questions. "What does it mean registration of weapons?" She asked, mainly to herself.
"It means this tournament allows you to bring weapons. However the only weapons you are allowed to use are the ones you register. The guidelines to the weapons should be on the next page." Her father's smooth voice filled the space between them but he didn't look up from his work. Kagome flipped the page to see the rules.
"A competitor may be allowed to bring any number of weapons of their choice, however lethal weapons such as metal swords or blades is strictly forbidden. If a competitor specializes in such a weapon, specialty made weapons out of wood or bamboo are allowed to be registered in their place. Any weapon that is not registered and is used during the tournament will be grounds for immediate disqualification." She read out loud.
Her gaze flickered up to Sesshoumaru's own golden gaze as he watched her. "Yes. So be sure to choose your weapons wisely. I have already taken the liberty of having your twin swords custom made as twin bokken. They will be ready to pick up by tomorrow afternoon."
"Oh. Thank you. That makes me feel better actually. Knowing that the training I've been doing with real swords won't be to waste. " She returned to the paper hesitating to fill in the blanks about which weapons to bring.
"It is why I encouraged you to do so." He replied calmly, turning back to his laptop as he continued typing. "Leave the question about weapons until last. Then go to the dojo and carefully select which weapons you will be bringing. Shuriken and kunai are allowed to be used provided you do not use them in any way that inflicts serious injury. They are only acceptable to be used as shallow surface cuts or as distractions in the arena. There will be a large metal safety screen around the arena to keep the spectators safe. As such the tournament will only have one match running at a time, rather than have multiple matches going at the same time like in some other tournaments' preliminary rounds. The tournament itself should only last a week of the summer break. Unless something major happens to prolong it."
"Something major? Has that happened before?" Kagome asked with concern. "At the tournament's inception it did. As you know the tournament was created by our family to instill peace and friendly competition during wartime. The competitors traditionally, then, were selected from the best fighters of our allies. Sometimes enemies tried to take advantage of that and the tournament was put on hold. But as peace was won across the nation the tournament opened up to any warrior from any clan that wished to join. Not all of them did. I do not expect anything like that to happen again, and such a thing hasn't happened in centuries." Kagome was silent as she held her father gaze. What he was saying was one thing and he was trying to reassure her but his posture was more rigid then normal. Finally she looked down at the papers with a heavy sigh.
"You think Naraku will try something..." Her brows drew together and when Sesshoumaru's finger and thumb curled around her chin to force her to look up at him she blinked in surprise at the intense look in his eyes.
"I will not allow that disgraceful human being to harm you. I have taken extra precautions with security using our extra resources to assist with the security detail. As well as Haninozuka will be your bodyguard. I would ideally like to have more security personnel at my disposal but I will not risk any intruders by hiring anyone I have not employed for longer than a year." He released her and sat back. Her heart warmed towards her adoptive father and she gave him a small smile. She sat straighter as a thought came to her.
"How many more people do you think you need?" She asked. He quirked a brow at her. "Ideally between fifty to sixty more people. Why?" He tilted his head at her curiously. "Well Kyouya Ootori's family has a private police force of 100 men. I doubt they would be willing to supply all of them but if you only need that many it's possible that they would lend them to us for a week. They have all been working for their family for a very long time. I could ask Kyouya about it at school tomorrow."
"There is no need to worry about it. I will reach out to his father. If we are to use them I would like thorough background on them to look over anyways. It is a good suggestion." He gave her a small approving smile. She returned it and returned to her pamphlet. Once the rest of it was complete minus the section about weapons, she grabbed a notepad and a pen and headed to the dojo to pick out her weapons for the tournament. She sat on the floor staring at the wall of weapons, realizing she would need to plan a battle strategy if she was going to make this choice easier.
Sesshoumaru watched her enter the dojo from his office window. Then turned back to the email open on his laptop. He clicked on an attachment and stared at the charred remains of evidence that his undercover detective he had recruited from the police force had found at the Higurashi home. It had been hidden out of sight of the property. Any of the old evidence had long been collected and stored at the police station and a new house stood in the place of the old one. This however had been hidden and half buried behind a tree. Only the man's canine companion had been able to sniff it out. He could tell from one glance at the unidentifiable object that getting any prints or dna off the object would be impossible. And indeed the man had confirmed as much. It was clear from the twisted charred antennae that it was a remote of some sort with a receiver. It was hard to tell if it was a detonator or a simply remote. And the fact that it was melted, charred and twisted was confusing. All that aside he now had evidence that the Higurashi fire was arson. It was unmistakably caused by an electrical fire, determined by the fire fighters and police investigators after the fire had been put out, and a remote receiver could easily have sparked whatever caused the fire. There were, however, now more questions that would likely go unanswered as the evidence was too old. Naraku could very well be a mastermind however he was only a high school student and was protected as a minority for that reason. That and according to others out there it would be a stretch to assume a teenager could pull the wool over the eyes of trained professionals. It would be a losing legal battle to accuse him without definite proof. Even the fact he had stalked her prior to the fire had not been enough to convince anyone of his involvement initially. He had a rock solid alibi for the night in question and had gotten off with a warning on his stalking behavior. A mere slap on the child's wrist. But the bigger problem that the detective had reasoned was why would the arsonist leave behind such valuable evidence? Even by burying it? It was a more logical solution to bury such a device if it was absolutely not possible to take it home, but to do so at the crime scene? The arsonist would be a fool to dump it in a trash bin anywhere nearby or even at their own place of dwelling. No the detective could only assume based on the burnt wreckage that this device was not supposed to be burned.
Nothing anywhere nearby where it had been found, other than the actual house wreckage itself, had been burned. If they had tossed it into the fire to be burned then they risked substantial injury to themselves to retrieve it and bury it just out of sight on the property before any fire fighters got there. Such a thing was highly unlikely as arsonists were often masochists to get burned themselves. It would be highly improbable in such a scenario. The only other option was that it was not meant to be burned, so either something had gone horribly wrong, or someone had tried to cover up loose ends, like a hired arsonist, by getting rid of them with murder. The detective sent another message saying they would look into any and all major burn victims or other suspicious wounds on people in all the hospitals in the city.
Sesshoumaru closed his laptop. Deeply troubled. And pulled out his cell phone intent on taking up Kagomes suggestion about additional security. He would take no risk to ensure her safety. He dialed the number for Ootori's secretary to schedule a meeting. Troubled thoughts churning through his mind.
After Kagome had finished her list she had knocked on Sesshoumaru's study to find him on the phone. Assuming based on his end of the conversation he was arranging to speak with Kyouyas father, she slipped the notepad with her list on top of her tournament application and then scribbled a note that she was going to go to Haruhi's house.
"Have Haninozuka pick you up and go with you." He softly ordered her while covering the receiver on his phone. She nodded and slipped back out the door while he returned to his conversation. Pulling out her cellphone to text Hani and also told him specifically not to invite the whole host club. She only wanted to spend some girl to girl time with her younger friend before the tournament and summer holidays started. She didn't want to have to deal with the entire host club. She needed something calm, relaxing, and grounding to help soothe her slowly growing nerves about the tournament. Ideally she wanted to spend time with Mori, but knew that option was out with the tournament being so close.
Kagome rang the doorbell to the small apartment. A man in women's clothing, who looked pretty enough to be a model with dyed red-brown long wavy hair, looked at them expectantly. "Ah. Mitsukuni. And... I'm sorry I don't think I know you. Are you also a friend of Haruhi's?" He tilted his head in question at her.
"That's right. You must by Haruhi's father Ranka. My name is Kagome Taisho. I help serve refreshments at the host club." She explained.
"Ahh... Taisho, you say? You wouldn't happen to be related to the Taisho who is sponsoring that upcoming tournament. The one whose daughter will end up engaged to the winner?" Kagome gave a strained smile and a shrug in the same move.
"Unfortunately..." She hedged somewhat sadly. Mitsukuni looked up at her with concern and grabbed her hand in his, a silent gesture of comfort. She looked down at him with surprise and a smile. "The tournament will cause me to miss the chance to spend time with the host club over the summer break. So I was hoping that Haruhi and I could make supper together for you." She lifted a grocery bag up, indicating the groceries she had purchased on the way there.
"Oh! That's very thoughtful of you! Please come in!" Ranka stepped to the side and let the pair inside. "Mitsukuni it's unusual for you to be spending time away from your cousin isn't it?" Ranka asked.
Mitsukuni gave him a flowering smile. "That's right! But from now until the end of the tournament I am Kago-chan's personal bodyguard!" He chirped happily. He had been more quiet than normal the ride here in his family's limo, and until they had safely stepped into the apartment he had held his cutesy side at bay, remaining on the alert for potential threats. He trusted Haruhi's dad, and they were safely out of sight of any paparazzi or worse.
"I am certain you will do a fine job." Ranka smiled and tilted his head with a small chuckle. The boy was certainly cute, but Ranka knew a thing or two about appearances being misleading. And he doubted that Kagome's father would hire anything but the best to protect his daughter, if he knew anything about rich people it was they took such things very seriously. "Oh Haruhi~ you have guests!" Ranka skipped to his daughters door and rapped his knuckles on it. She opened the door in confusion having been studying.
She saw Hani bound into th hallway. "Hi Haru-Chan!" He lifted a hand high in the air in greeting. Haruhi groaned and hung her head in defeat. "Great... if the club is here that means I won't be able to get any studying done. Kagome then stepped into view behind Hani.
"Don't worry. It's just the two of us. I specifically swore Mitsukuni to secrecy so the rest of the club wouldn't come as well. I needed some girl bonding time." Kagome smiled reassuringly.
"If that's the case... then why is Hani-senpai here?" She tilted her head in confusion. Hani and Kagome shared a look and a smile before both looking back at Haruhi.
"I'm Kago-chan's bodyguard!" He declared proudly.
"Your... bodyguard?" Haruhi was at a loss. Kagome just giggled and waved away her confused look.
"Don't worry about it. I was hoping I could teach you that curry recipe I was telling you about the other day. Do you have time?" She asked her friend.
"And I brought cake!" Hani held up a box of confectionaries." A brilliant and eager smile shining in his adorable brown eyes.
"Uh... sure... I guess I could put on some tea for you and dad while we cook." She stepped fully out into the hallway, closing her bedroom door as she followed the two back into the main kitchen and sitting area of the small apartment.
Haruhi made tea for all of them and Kagome and Haruhi quickly ate their cake while the two males turned on the tv and slowly ate with the distraction. Kagome and Haruhi cleared plates and while Haruhi looked at the written recipe Kagome had brought and began to pull out pots and utensils to cook with, Kagome quickly washed their dessert plates. The two girls chatted while the boys hung out in the living room. Occasionally Ranka would ask Hani a question that he would cheerfully answer, but for the most part they watched the tv together in silence. Ranka would occasionally glance over towards his daughter and her friend, watching as the two girls would look at each other and smile as they talked, catching up while they worked. Haruhi also paid rapt attention to the way Kagome taught her to cook the dish they were making. Haruhi had always enjoyed trying to cook Kotoko's recipe's. However it had always saddened him that his wife wasn't able to teach their daughter herself. But watching the way Kagome was attentive to Haruhi's questions as they cooked together, and showing her more efficient ways to cook, he couldn't shake the unmistakable sense of motherly affection towards Haruhi from the older girl. He turned away from the tv and faced the two girls more fully. Kagome started laughing at one of the stories that Haruhi had told her of the Host Club's recent antics. She had been absent from the club for the past week so that she could have more time to seriously train for the competition.
"Wow... It sounds like a lot has happened while I was gone! Those boys sure are curious about the commoners life, aren't they?" Kagome smiled with a shake of her head as she and Haruhi cooked in the kitchen together, Ranka watching them with a smile on his face.
"I must say, Kagome, that smells quite amazing!" He gushed, Kagome looked back at him and smiled.
"Thanks. I really love curry, and this one is a bit more complicated then the most common ones, but I find it pretty easy once you get used to the recipe. I make it so much that I practically have it memorized." Kagome told the tranny with a comfortable smile. Ranka had been impressed at how she had not even bat an eye when they met. Not concerned in the slightest and taking in his appearance in stride.
"I'm surprised. Wouldn't being the daughter of a wealthy family mean that you don't have to cook? Don't most rich people have hundreds of servants and maids?" Ranka asked curious, Haruhi bristled.
"Dad! You can't just ask stuff like that!" She protested. Kagome laughed. Noticing immediately that Ranka and Tamaki seemed to have similar curiosities, though about opposite things. Tamaki for the commoner life and Ranka for the rich.
"It's fine Haruhi. I was adopted, Ranka-san. I was actually born to a commoner family and lived the commoners life until I was 15. My mom taught me to cook, and cooking helps me feel closer to her, so my adoptive father gives our cook one day off a week, and in turn I cook for us. But lately I've been too busy to cook because of having to train for the tournament." Kagome told him with a small smile. A smile that his perceptive gaze noticed was somewhat pained. He may have held similar mannerisms to Tamaki, but at least he knew when to quit. He just nodded, knowing his own daughter felt the same way. Now he understood more about how the two girls had become fast friends. They were by all accounts, from vastly different social circles, and had the raven haired teen not been adopted they never would have met. It was one of the many reasons that Ranka truly did admire the host club. They had a way of helping and bringing people together.
"Kago-chan was orphaned when she was 15." Hani quietly informed Ranka, who for a moment looked stricken at the news. That certainly explained why she had been adopted then.
"Ah, see that makes sense. When the host club came here they were so shocked by how small our place was. It was quite amusing to watch the culture shock in those boys." Ranka decided to redirect the conversation for Kagome's sake. Kagome's eyes widened and she looked at Haruhi. "They came here?" Kagome asked her friend as Haruhi finished preparing the rice and started the rice cooker. Kagome herself was cutting chicken into small chunks in preparation for the curry.
"Yeah, much to my annoyance. And then Tamaki tripped and fell on me, right as dad walked in..." Haruhi told her with a bemused glance.
"I REALLY HATE that boy!" Both girls turned to find Ranka's long hair floating around him demonically as a menacing aura floated around him. Hani eying him warily and slowly shifting further away from him.
"It's fine. He's just a friend. He reminds me a lot of you, dad." Haruhi rolled her eyes, returning to her work. Kagome looked at her expression, then turned and saw Ranka's curious, and dare she say desperate, searching gaze. Wanting to know how his daughter truly felt. Kagome watched her friend then winked at Ranka, putting the older man at ease as he visibly relaxed.
"So you don't have a crush on Tamaki..." Kagome's eyes narrowed and smiled as Haruhi's hands stilled. "But if I had to guess... do you have a crush on someone else in the club?" Kagome watched as Haruhi's face glowed red. Ranka sidling up to her side to peer at his daughter. Hani now watching everyone in the kitchen, the tv forgotten.
"You do?" He asked, mind racing to try and figure out which host club member.
"No! Of course not! W-why would you think that?!" Seeing the fearsome smile on her father's face and the victorious smirk of knowing on her friends, she realized her hasty rejection had been taken as a confirmation instead.
"I think I know who... When I was last at the club, sitting with a certain someone, you kept looking over at us..." Kagome smiled gently. Haruhi's face flushed a deep red.
"Ooh! Now you have to tell me who it is!" Rana gushed, grabbing hold of Haruhi's shoulders and giving them a little shake. Kagome watched Haruhi's weary and almost skittishly frightened look in her eyes and sharing a secretive smile with Hani, Kagome cleared her throat.
"Sorry, Ranka-san. I shouldn't have teased Haruhi like that. I don't think she is ready to realize exactly what she feels for a certain someone, who I haven't even noticed any inclination on their part. I wouldn't want to get your hopes up. We should just let them try and progress naturally on their own don't you think?" Kagome supplied, a mischevious glimmer in her eyes that Ranka caught on to immediately. "Of course! That would probably be best! Poor Haruhi has always been a little bit dense when it comes to her own feelings though..." He placed a hand on his cheek and closed his eyes with a sigh.
"Hey!" Haruhi protested, her face flushed.
"Don't worry, Ranka-san, I wil take care of our precious Haruhi and give her a little push every now and then. And I'll do the same for her crush to try and push him into realizing his feelings too." She winked at Haruhi who hung her head in defeat.
"Senpai..." She groaned as her father caught up Kagome's hands and gave them an excited shake.
"I look forwards to working with you! Thank you for looking after my Haruhi!" He gushed. Kagome could only laugh, the sound echoing around the apartment, totally carefree. Hani smiled and lifting his phone snapped a picture of Kagome's widely smiling face, thrown over her shoulder at Haruhi. She looked so joyous and carefree and he quickly sent the picture to Takashi. A secret good luck charm for the tournament. After dinner was all cleaned up Hani and Kagome stood by the door and bowed to Rank and Haruhi.
"Thank you again for letting us come and force ourselves on your family time. This is the last free time I will have before the tournament starts next week. I won't be attending the club either as I have to finish training before the tournament." Kagome explained.
"Oh. Well we will miss having you there. I know Kyouya-senpai has been a lot happier because the bills have been lighter since you started baking so many of the sweets for the club." Kagome's lips quirked into a knowing smile and nodded.
"Will you tell him my apologies? Mitsukuni knows I will be a part of the tournament, since he will be my bodyguard during it, but it isn't supposed to be known by any of the contestants or public before the tournament actually begins that I will be entering. Can you tell the club that I will have to miss due to family things?" Kagome asked her.
"Sure, I can do that. Good luck in the tournament." Haruhi offered a smile to her friend.
"Thanks. Thanks for the evening. It was fun! See you!" Kagome lifted a hand in farewell and the two host club members left. Ranka and Haruhi smiling and waving as the door closed behind them.
Well folks! The tournament is officially starting next chapter! I needed some calm friendly fluff this chapter, before the intensity of Naraku strikes next!
Anyways, don't forget the poll question above! Haruhi's love interest will be sparked soon during the upcoming chapters! I have a vague idea of who to put her with (and I have idea's for all the host club members- but again she won't be paired with Tamaki in this story), so give your vote as to who you would like to see her with! It will just be the start of the romance in this story, as the main pairing is Kagome and Mori. HOWEVER I have started planning a sequel, and Haruhi (and her love interest) play a big part in that one!
So let me know your favorite Haruhi pairing!
~ArtisticQuill