Haruhi turned sleepily just in time for the first two boys who were racing neck to neck, hurling playful insults at each other. The one closest to Haruhi clipped her ski and she slipped, falling into the trees.
'You hit her you dumbass,' one of the boys shrieked as he passed Kyouya.
Another boy looked behind him, 'sorry girlie, my bad,' he called laughing then raced to the bottom of the slope.
'Haruhi?' Kyouya called up the mountain cautiously. When he received no reply he took off his skis and walked up to where Haruhi had fallen, closely behind the twins. The two of them pulled her from a snowdrift, her eyes blinked drowsily a few times before they focused. She stumbled, her skis long fallen of and fell into Kyouya, he grabbed her hand steadied her.
'You ok, Haruhi?' the twins tried to brushed some of the snow from her clothes and face.
'Hm?' she mumbled,' yeah... what happened?'
'You hit your head on a tree after a couple of idiots knocked you over,' Kyouya said while checking her eyes were in focus, 'I'm sure Huni-senpai and Mori-senpai are taking care of them right now, luckily, I don't think you're concussed.'
'Haruhi,' Kaoru pressed, still brushing snow off her, 'are you sure you're ok?'
Haruhi held up and hand then stumbled away and emptied the contents of her stomach behind a tree, 'ow,' she murmured, at least her head felt clearer now but it mean she could feel where she had hit her head, and it hurt. The three boys immediately came over and fussed over her.
'HARUHI!' Tamaki shrieked up the slope, 'DADDY IS COMING TO SAVE YOU!'
'Please make senpai shut up,' Haruhi sighed, before heaving again.
'Gladly,' Hikaru formed a snowball in his hand then aimed, hitting Tamaki square in the face. The poor blond slipped and lay in the snow, Huni and Mori were behind him, dusting off themselves after teaching a few idiots a lesson, they ignored Tamaki, who was lying on the floor wallowing in his misery, and they went to check on Haruhi who was being supported by Kyouya whilst being guided from the trees back onto the slope, a few people skied passed, giving them no more than a quick glance. One person stopped to ask if everything was ok, Kaoru insisted they had everything under control.
'Haru-chan, do you need doctor? Are you feeling alright?' Huni placed a hand under her elbow, giving her some more support.
'I'm fine, the pain made me throw up but now I just have a headache and I'm really cold,' her teeth chattered loudly to emphasise her point, there was snow all down her back and her hair was stuck together with ice.
'Mori-senpai, carry Haruhi while I call for a car to pick us up at the road down there. Hikaru, Kaoru, Huni-senpai, go get Tamaki and wait by the road,' Kyouya pulled his phone from his pocket and was making the call already by the time Haruhi had a chance to protest.
'I can walk just fine,' she insisted.
'You can't ski or walk down a mountain so soon after sustaining a head injury like that,' Kyouya called back then turned to his phone call, 'Hello? Yes this is Kyouya Otori.'
Haruhi glared at him then shivered harder in a gust of wind. Mori picked her up, he had her over one shoulder and was carrying her skis in the other, Huni had already taken his skis to the roadside. Haruhi's tired body continued to shiver but she relaxed into her tall senpai's shoulder, the warmth started to warm her but she continued to shiver. She closed her eyes and tried to concentrate.
'Haruhi,' Kyouya had skied in behind them, 'you have to stay awake.'
'Don't want to,' she frowned, 'tired,' she kept her eyes closed.
The she felt her lip warm up, just for a second. She opened her eyes; frown still set there, then her eyes met another pair of onyx eyes, staring, what seemed, straight into her soul. He eyes widened.
'Kyouya-senpai?'
'Think you can stay awake now?' he muttered, pulling back. Haruhi just gawped and nodded, she curled into Mori's chest so Kyouya could see her face. Now her body was truly confused, her head was thumping, her face was turning a nice cherry red but her body was freezing cold. She could still feel lingering warmth on her lips; the ghost of an action she could barely believe was true.
'The car's here, hurry up you guys,' Hikaru called before getting into the vehicle.
Kyouya took Haruhi's skis from Mori and skied quickly down to the car where he passed both his and Mori's skis to a butler.
Mori walked towards the car, Haruhi still nestled in his grasp, 'you can put me down now Mori-senpai, please,' she stumbled slightly on the icy pavement but managed successfully to grab hold of the door of the car and slip into the nearest seat. Still shivering, she took her gloves off and rubbed her head, finding a growing lump where her head had collided with a tree. She removed her hand,
'Hm, blood,' she didn't sound very interested.
'BLOOD?' (A/N: gee wonder who this is)
'Calm down Tamaki-senpai, it's only a bit so the cut isn't very deep,' she patted it again lightly, wincing at the forming bruise but her hand came away again, hardly any blood, 'see? I think it's stopped bleeding already.'
'You're still shivering though,' Hikaru pointed out, and then glanced at his twin, they shared an evil look and made to hug Haruhi, but Kyouya beat them to it. He put and arm around Haruhi and pulled her close to his side.
'What are you doing Kyouya-senpai?' Haruhi squeaked, still confused as to whether he had actually kissed her or not.
'You may end up with hypothermia if your body doesn't warm up soon, it would be of inconvenience to me if we had to go to a hospital.'
'Kyo-chan just doesn't want you to get sick,' Huni patted Haruhi's arm from his position on the other side of Haruhi. Mori was next to him and the twins and Tamaki were opposite. Tamaki was looking at his friend with a bewildered look.
'Stop trying to make him look like the good guy Huni-senpai,' Hikaru folded her arms and leant back to sulk in his seat, 'Kyouya-senpai's just being as cold hearted as ever.'
Nobody moved to object, Haruhi felt Kyouya stiffen slightly beside her, she looked around her to see everyone's expressions but the throbbing was aching behind her head. She closed her eyes and waited for the journey to end so she could escape from the tense atmosphere, have a warm shower and go to bed. Her body was still trembling from the cold but nothing like the violent shivers which had been shaking her earlier.
After a few minutes more of frosty silence, the car slowed down to a smooth stop and the twins were the first to run out, as soon as they entered the fresh air they became their usual loud, obnoxious selves and were pelting each other and Tamaki with snowballs.
Haruhi released herself from Kyouya's grasp and slipped out of the car, when the cool breeze hit her face she immediately started shivering violently again.
'Quick, Haru-chan,' Huni hopped from the car behind her, 'I'll show you your room so you can get out of those clothes,' he grabbed her icy hand and led her to the house. If any of the other hosts told her she could take off her clothes she would immediately be suspicious
Huni led her up a flight of stairs then down two hallways before opening a door, 'this is your room Haru-chan, there are clothes already in the closet and there's an en-suite bathroom through that door,' he pointed to the other side of the room.
'Thanks,' Haruhi muttered then coughed, too tired to complain about the extravagance of it all. She walked immediately towards the bathroom.
'Oh, and Haru-chan, Kyo-chan isn't as mean as Hika-chan says,' he looked seriously up at her.
Haruhi managed a think smile, 'I know, see you later Huni-senpai.'
Huni grinned and closed the door, 'feel better soon Haru-chan!' he called behind him then went to find his cousin.
---
After a quick, scolding hot shower Haruhi wrapped herself on one of the fluffiest towels she had ever used and went to find some pyjamas in the closet the was probably the size of her bedroom, not that she noticed, she pulled a nightgown from one of the shelves, dropped the towel and slipped it over her head. She then literally fell into bed, dug under the covers and fell asleep.
Maybe the thumping in my head and the nausea will stop by the time I wake up.
An estimated two hours later the twins knocked on Haruhi's bedroom door.
'Haruhi, you awake?' Kaoru called.
'You're going to miss dinner,' Hikaru added when they were met only by silence.
'Should you guy's be trying to wake up Haru-chan, let her sleep, it must be a shock after hitting her head so hard,' Huni came out of his room (the door opposite Haruhi's room), Mori managed to exit from his room (next to Huni's room) at exactly the same time and automatically placed the small senior on his shoulders.
'It's unhealthy to miss a meal,' the twins insisted, refusing to be wrong.
'DON'T BOTHER MY POOR SICK DAUGHTER!' (A/N: I'll stop writing in capitals for Tamaki when he says a sentence that doesn't need them, it's even annoying me :|) Tamaki rushed from the other side of the corridor (on the opposite side of the building to Haruhi :) )
'Had you thought you may be disrupting the time she is using to recuperate also?' Kyouya sighed, 'Baka,' he added, knowing it would be enough to send Tamaki to his corner of despair.
With Tamaki sorted with he proceeded to Haruhi's bedroom door, 'I will check on her, all of you go downstairs to eat. I will be with you momentarily,' Mori and Huni helped to push the twins down the stairs, Tamaki followed when he thought he had been forgotten.
Kyouya knocked once more on Haruhi's door and called quietly, 'Haruhi?' after a few moments he called once more, 'is it ok if I take your silence as permission to enter?' after another few long moments of silence he pushed the already slightly ajar door open. He ran his eyes over the explosion of clothes scattered on the floor.
Maybe I can excuse her messiness, maybe this once, just this once; she is hardly to blame so maybe once.
One look at the sleeping girl and he made up his mind. Haruhi had tossed around during her sleep, knocking away the blanket, she was slightly flushed, her lips slightly parted and her breathing. Her hands were curled into loose fists, close to her face. She was curled up slightly and her short hair splayed out on the pillow around her face.
Kyouya was not one for cute things but the only word he could describe Haruhi as right now was adorable and adorable was not a word Otori's use. He quickly reminded himself that and changed into medical mode, his thoughts turned as passive as his face and he checked her temperature by placing a hand on her forehead.
'Slightly raised,' he muttered to himself then straightened up. He left for the dining room. He couldn't help but fell glad he hadn't let any of the other host see her sleeping like that, it was a memory he could call his own.
When he got there he was met by five expectant pairs of eyes turned to him, if he wasn't Otori Kyouya he would have found their looks rather unsettling, 'she has a slight temperature, probably nothing to worry about. I'm sure she'll come down when she's hungry,' with that he sat down and picked up his knife and fork, a plate of food appeared in front of him in a matter of seconds.
---
Haruhi stumbled around; she had put some clothes on to keep warm so was now sporting a pair of thermal trousers underneath a pair of shaped, navy trousers (pants). She had two vest-tops underneath a soft cream coloured fleece. She wrapped the warm hoodie tightly around herself as she searched for the kitchen to get a glass of water and an aspirin. She walked past the open door of the dining room.
'Hey Haruhi, we're in here! Come sit by us,' the twins had obviously caught sight of her. Haruhi froze then sighed.
'Actually guys I only-,'
'No! Come sit next to daddy,' Tamaki patted the now empty space next to him (Kyouya had been sitting there before Tamaki shoved him away).
'I'll sit next to Huni-senpai,' Haruhi muttered, her eyes burning in the bright light. She walked over to him in the straightest line she could and sat in the seat to the small senior's right. She was immediately bombarded with questions on what she would like to eat. Everyone else was either eating dessert, cheese or just chatting and sipping drinks (A/n: Maybe even alcoholic drinks *Le gasp*)
'I really just want a glass of water,' she insisted. Wishing she had just stayed in bed, her head felt weird and the bruise hurt.
'It's unhealthy,' Mori rumbled. He fixed her with his intense stare.
'Um, ok, you guys can choose something but I'm not that hungry,' while the most rowdy of the group argues over a butler about what they would order for Haruhi. The brunette sighed and eyed the water jug that was sitting in the middle of the table, just out of her reach, with longing. A hand pushed it in her direction.
'It's rude to stare, just ask instead of sitting there gazing like a kindergartener,' Haruhi scowled at Kyouya's comment but managed a small 'thanks'.
After a few relatively peaceful moments her food arrived in front of her. She was mildly surprised to see a simple salad with eggs and meat of some form plus a small steak in a creamy sauce. It looked simple but Haruhi knew before she even took a bit it would taste amazing and probably cost more than her house.
She placed a small amount of food into her mouth and chewed slowly, it was indeed, heavenly. She quickly placed some more into her mouth then swallowed, content as the flavour lingered on her tongue. As soon as the food hit her stomach, she regretted it. Haruhi grabbed her glass of water and sipped it, hoping it would stop her stomach from impersonating a washing machine.
She took a few more mouthfuls, ignoring her stomach flipping in rapid circles; she could fell the gaze of each host flicking from each other, to their food, then to her again. She placed her chopsticks down on the table.
'I'm sorry but may I be excused for a second?' she tried to act normal, forcing herself to stop from gagging.
'Don't you like the food Haru-chan?'
'No, no, it's great I just really, really need to be excused,' she stood up, the room spun around her; she had to clap her hands over her mouth. She managed to run from the room to the nearest bathroom and lost the food she had barely even swallowed. She washed her hands, feeling no better and sat down on the floor shakily. The tiles were cool under her faced but she had to prove to everyone she was fine otherwise they would all make a fuss.
She left the bathroom, using the wall for support.
'Haruhi, everyone is looking for you, we're you sick again?'
She didn't need to turn around to match the voice to a body.
'No, I'm fine. I'm just going to bed because I'm tired.'
'Oh really?' and hand went over her forehead and she was pushed back into the person's chest.
'You're temperature's gone through the roof, still think you're ok,' a voice whispered in her ear. The coolness of his hand was incredibly comforting.
'M'fine,' she muttered before she closed her eyes.
Hi everybody again :) having a good holiday? I hope so and if you are still her thank-you for reading; the next chapter will be up after I update my other neglected story cos I'm a baaaaad person.
PS: This is THE longest chapter I have ever written in my life