Chapter 10: Glimpse by Serina
The incident had taken such a turn that it made Haruhi feel a little uncomfortable just from the memory of it. She wrapped herself in the velvety blanket and refused to get up. God forbid she accidentally found herself face to face with that rich bastard or any of those weirdos. No! She was mortified. Things couldn't have been more awful than they already were. Cringe! She couldn't bear it.
Yes, she was scared of thunderstorms! And yes, she didn't like people knowing about it. It made her feel even more vulnerable than she was. And having the perfect Ootori Kyoya and those host boys know about her fears, made her feel very awkward. She didn't even tell her father about it. Whenever there was a thunderstorm, she tried her best to overcome her fears herself.
The knock on the door startled her. She automatically wrapped the blanket around her body as a defense and concentrated her senses. She calmed a little when the knocking stopped. She had already talked to Tamaki-senpai. It felt a little awkward, especially when he went into a territory she wasn't comfortable talking about. Why would he ask if his friend slept with her?
Kyoya-senpai didn't act in any way that made her feel he had made anything out of what happened the night before, but she still felt out of her comfort zone around him. Lunch with them was quiet, and she was glad that the others were busy thinking about something. She didn't want to hear any more question about what happened in Kyoya's room. Especially the sly way the twins tried to question her. Nor did she want to have anything to do with this Nekozawa staff business―Kyoya and the rest of guys seemed very concerned about it, but she didn't have time to worry about that.
After lunch, for those very reasons, she locked herself in her room and tried to forget everything that happened. They were stuck in this summerhouse for a while, and she didn't know if she would be able to stay that long. As she lowered the blanket and tried to grab the book from the bed-stand, the knock on the door repeated, and then it was opened slowly.
"May I come in?" she heard Kyoya Ootori's voice.
She turned red. Panicked, she threw the blanket over her head and mumbled, "Yes, a minute please."
What did he want?
"Yeah," she said, realizing that she couldn't get dressed in a minute. "You can come in."
Kyoya walked in. He looked a little surprised that she was in bed, judging from the expression on his face. "I am sorry," he said, looking away. "I didn't know you were trying to sleep. I hoped you had rested already. But a lot happened, and I suppose you need time for yourself."
"No, no," Haruhi started quickly to protest, not understanding herself why she was doing it, after all, she didn't really want to talk to him. "I am fine. I was just reading a book."
She just didn't like people babying after her and treating her as if she was some fragile, little thing. He smiled. He actually smiled. Her heart started to beat faster. Her blush turned a few shades darker, and Haruhi was sure, he noticed it, because his smile broadened, turning into something between mild amusement and an actual grin.
"I wanted to talk to you," he explained, sitting next to her, so close that she instinctively backed away, almost to the other edge of the bed.
Kyoya adjusted his position and moved a bit away from the girl. She looked so adorable, just like he remembered her. Of course, she had grown, and now she was a beautiful young woman, but she didn't lose her innocent looking brown eyes, and the look in the them was still the same. How could he have not recognized her sooner? She had gotten some character though through years, he thought amused. But it suited her and he liked it even better. Why didn't she remember him at all? How could have everything about him been removed from her memory?
"Yes," she said timidly, almost uncharacteristically shyly, and when he looked back at her, she hid her eyes, looking everywhere but not into his eyes. She was clearly shy of him, and he wondered where this strange, new behavior came from. She was pretty bold earlier on. What had changed?
"Did you know those guys who had attacked you?" he asked.
"No," she said confused. "Why would you think I would have had anything to do with those morons? I thought you had a higher opinion of me than that."
"Did they say anything? Anything that seemed strange?" Kyoya asked again, ignoring her comments.
"Strange?" she shook her head. "Why are you asking these questions? They were just harassing the girls, and I was nearby, so I stopped them. What do you want to know?"
"Nothing," Kyoya suddenly smiled, "I was just trying to know what happened there."
"I see," she said, still refusing to look into his eyes.
"Are you feeling alright?" he asked, and his voice sounded really concerned.
"Yes," she said. "I am fine as long as no one decides to question me if I slept with you or not. I'm really getting sick and tired of them trying to make more out of it than what it was."
The direct way she had said that made Kyoya lose his color a bit. These morons were crossing lines. He pursed his lips for a short second and smiled before Haruhi could catch the expression on his face.
"I didn't know it was an interesting subject for them to ponder on," he chuckled and then looked at her. "Don't worry, I will talk to them."
"You know," she suddenly started, her voice suspicious, "I don't get why you suddenly became so concerned about me. What is it that you want from me?"
Kyoya narrowed his eyes at her. Letting out a small air of sigh, his lips curved upward, forming a seemingly innocent, genuinely baffled smile. "I didn't know you held such a low opinion of me," he said. "I am concerned about you, because you were attacked. I thought we had already discussed this, and you understood."
"No," she shook her head and gulped. "I don't meant that. There is something else."
"Something else?" he gave her a strange look. "What are you speaking about?"
"I just have a feeling there is something that you know, and that I don't," she muttered and snorted, "you know what? Never mind! I don't want to know."
Kyoya didn't say anything. He only blinked, weighing in his mind if it would be alright to speak about the past with her, and realized that he didn't want to tell her anything. He wanted her to remember on her own. He wanted her to remember him. It was strange to have her here so close, and not be able to speak about his childhood love. As the thought crossed his mind, a small, light smile appeared on his lips. Haruhi caught sight it, and as she had no idea what the young man was thinking, she leaned forward.
"What are you smiling about?" she demanded, finding it strange that she would even care. "I mean... you just don't seem to smile a lot. Whatever! Forget what I said."
She looked at him again, and then lights twinkled in front of her eyes. Her head spun, and she lost her balance. Warmth coated her body suddenly, and a stream of images rushed through her head. It was so fast, so intense that she screamed. She couldn't tell what was happening around her. But the Ootori guy must have rushed forward to catch her, because she didn't fall out of bed like she anticipated. Her mind couldn't focus, there were images of a young girl and a boy playing together.
It seemed real, alive. She had a feeling if she reached forward, she could touch them. These images―they didn't seem hallucinations, they seemed like real memories. Why did it start to become so bad? Before she had these images visiting her very rarely, now it was so often; every time she looked at... at him... at Kyoya Ootori.
It was a cold day. Haruhi saw the park was misty, and the trees were bare with the exception of the evergreens. She saw the darkened leaves on the ground. It was a day in late November. Cold November morning, perhaps, and there was the girl who resembled her when she was five. Her hair was long and was falling down past her shoulders. She had a knitted beanie on her head and a coat of the same light violet color. Haruhi could see she was anxious. The little girl was worried, her shoulders were tense, but she walked forward determined. And then her face lit up when she saw the boy.
"Kyo," she called him and ran towards him.
He, too, had a winter appropriate attire. The boy smiled with exactly the same smile this man sitting next to her did. Her heart started to pound faster as the kids neared each other. The little girl wrapped her hands around the boy and gave him a soft hug. And then she broke the hug and beamed at him. But then the twinkle faded in her eyes and only a smile lingered on her lips. But there was sadness in that smile.
"Happy birthday, Kyo!" she said, and getting something out of the pocket of her coat, stretched her clutched hand forward.
He looked at the girl, first with surprise, then with apprehension and then something of a worry registered in his... his silver eyes. Yes, they were silver. The memories were faded, but Haruhi could see that those eyes were silver.
He opened his palm, and she gave him something. It was a small object that fit in her hand. Haruhi's eyes widened, as she realized that she had seen it somewhere different. It was a small charm in the shape of a crown with smokey quartz stones. Yes, she had seen it before. It was on the necklace that man, Tachibana-san, had given to her and asked her to give it to Kyoya-senpai. Her heart started to pound faster. It could have been just a coincidence, after all, charms of this sort were not a rarity.
"Why did you give me a gift like this?" she heard the boy speak, carefully observing the pendant.
"You have shadows in your eyes, like you hide pain and tears. You are my shadow king, Kyoya."
"You are my princess of light then," he said pleased, and she smiled in response.
The images started to spin around her head, and she felt nauseous, and then they all faded, leaving nothing behind but a lingering, strange sadness that she had lost something and someone special.
"How is she Kyo-chan?" Honey-senpai asked, looking at the feverish girl.
"I don't know," Kyoya shook his head. "She was fine and all of a sudden she lost her balance, and then she screamed."
The door to the room was opened, and Mori walked in, "I have called the doctor," he said and stood in the corner next to his cousin.
"Do you think it has something to do with what happened yesterday?" Hikaru asked. "She isn't recovering from it too well it seems."
"She will be fine," Tamaki spoke firmly as if trying to convince himself. "She will be fine."
Soon the doctor arrived and had everyone leave the room. The guys were pacing worried in front of her door. The corridor was dimly lit by the lamps hanging on the walls. The weak light glistered on their faces and made them look grim. They were all very worried. What if something serious was going on with her? Kyoya rubbed his chin, still thinking about her strange behavior before she fainted. Did she remember something? Maybe very little things that didn't allow her to make the correct assumptions or maybe he was just imagining, because he really wanted her to remember him.
When the door opened, all the hosts ran towards it. The doctor walked out, and seeing the faces of six worried boys, sighed.
"How is she, doctor?" Tamaki hurried to ask. "Is she alive?"
The doctor gave the blonde a bewildered gaze and nodded, "She has regained consciousness. I have given her a sedative. She asked for someone named Kyoya."
He looked around. Kyoya walked forward. "Oh, it's you Ootori-san," the doctor said surprised, not expecting to see the son of his employer. "You can go in, but don't stay long. She is weak and needs rest. I think she is just a bit overwhelmed. Her blood pressure was too high."
Kyoya nodded and walked in, hearing the discontent, grumpy remarks from Tamaki. He didn't pay attention to his blonde friend, but noticed that his own heart wasn't very willing at the idea of seeing the girl weak and fragile. He schooled his facial features and walked in silently. The room was bright in colour and was filled with sunlight in contrast to the dark corridor they had all been waiting in. When he walked in, she shifted in the bed and tried to sit up. Her face was red and her short hair was messy. She peeked at Kyoya with unconcealed uncertainty, and started chewing her lower lip.
There was something really alluring about the way she sucked on her tender lip, and Kyoya's eyes immediately went to the lower region of her face. He blinked, surprised that her mere movement could have affected him in such a dubious way. He regarded her, carefully observed the positions of every single muscle on her face, the twitches of her eyebrow and the look in her eyes. She was bewildered. Something bothered and agitated her. He was very good at reading people, and this girl was no exception.
"How are you feeling?" he asked, impassively staring at her face. "The doctor said he's given you a sedative and that it might make you sleepy."
"I am so sorry," she sighed. "I am such a trouble for all of you. I spoiled this trip―"
"You didn't spoil anything," he sat down at the bed, next to her, and she shyly retreated, only piquing Kyoya's interest. "It was quite unfortunate that you fell sick. But it is not your fault."
She sucked in her lower lip again, and then bit it nervously. Kyoya's attention drifted for a short second, but then he noticed the expression on her face. She looked at him with acknowledgment. She looked at him as if she had recognized something in his features. She looked at him tentatively, but curiously.
"Do you need anything?" he asked, trying to put her at ease and find out what she was thinking about.
She shook her head. She felt kind of weak already. Her eyelids became heavy, and the bed started to seem too comfortable and soft. She made a nervous movement and asked him, "That pendant you have, Kyoya-senpai," she pointed at him raising, her chin, "is it... well, I just wanted to know where you got it from."
She realized the question sounded completely out of place and she was worried he would perceive it the wrong way.
"You mean this?" he lifted it up, pulling it out from underneath his shirt.
Her eyes widened when she saw the pendant shaped like a crown, and she gasped. Could it be, or was it just her overactive imagination?
"Yes," she murmured quietly, as it became harder for her to keep her eyes open.
"A very important friend had given it to me," he said after a moment of silence. He looked at her again; her breathing had become softer. She was asleep, he concluded.
"She was a very important friend, Haruhi," he said now with a sad smile, as he pulled the covers up to her shoulders to make sure she wouldn't get cold. "And I hope she will remember me."
He walked out, closing the door behind him and had everyone's attention on him quickly.
"How was she?" twins were asking in unison.
"Is she dying?" Tamaki was, as always, overreacting.
Mori-senpai and Honey-senpai patiently looked at him for his answer. He took a moment to collect his thoughts together and then turned to the other hosts.
"She is fine," he said. "I guess a little shaken by all of yesterday's events. She is asleep now, and I think it would be for the best if we leave her alone and let her relax."
Hikaru made a face as he asked, "Can't we just see her for a second?"
Kyoya wanted to roll his eyes, but he remained neutral and shook his head. Sometimes when the host club members became unreasonable, and he needed them to stay sensible, he would find himself inwardly cursing this damn world where he was surrounded by total idiots. Thankfully, she was back, and he hoped he wouldn't be alone anymore.
"We will see her when she wakes up," Honey-senpai smiled at all of them and moved down the hall.
Mori-senpai nodded. They quietly left the corridor. Tamaki was sulking and didn't seem to be happy not to see Haruhi before they departed. Kyoya's mind was busy with a few other things. What did she remember? Was it something essential?
He found himself wanting to tell her the truth. And there was also the problem with Nekozawa-senpai's summerhouse personnel. He needed to talk to Tachibana at this point and see if the chief of his security had found out anything material concerning the issue.
Tachibana was already waiting for him outside the summerhouse. He was standing in the lush garden, near the trees of blossomed rose bushes that crawled over the fence. The man was reddened under the burning sun, but refused to undo his tie or take off his suit jacket. Kyoya almost found the man's insistence on adhering to the dress code comical in a very endearing way. Kyoya approached him and cleared his throat to get the man's attention.
"Kyoya-sama," Tachibana bowed respectfully. "How is Haruhi-san? Is she alright? Kadomatsu-san told me that she had fainted again, and you needed to call a doctor."
"She is alright now," Kyoya said with a sigh. "I think she has remembered something, but I am not sure yet. I will find out once she wakes up. So, did you find out anything?"
"We have tried to track down the members of the security team to find out the reason of their sudden resignation. But..." he took a moment and looking around, lowered his voice, "they have left the country."
Kyoya wrinkled his eyebrows. This fact made everything more serious. Mori-senpai was right to be worried. Only Kyoya wasn't sure who was the target; Nekozawa Umehito, one of the hosts or Haruhi. His blood froze. He turned towards the summerhouse and gave it a strange glare.
"Try to find them," he said. "Contact your people. We need to control this before it gets messy."
"There is something else as well," Tachibana added. "Some anonymous source had transferred a considerable amount of money to the accounts of the former security staff members. I came across this piece of information when I was trying to find them, using their bank account information."
"This gets interesting," Kyoya gritted his teeth. "We need to find this source and discover their intentions. Please, contact the Cybernet tech-support, my father won't mind if we use their means to get hold of this person who doesn't seem to understand who he is messing with."
Tachibana bowed and left.