Chapter 24:

Chapter 24, A Hope for Normal

Hosting hours went as well as could be expected with a few twists. Apparently Tanya and Kira were customers to the Host Club, and had been so since the year prior but only came when they had the extra time after practice, which was actually pretty rarely. They weren't part of the debacle that occurred with Eclair and the mess that surrounded all of that since the Kendo, Judo and Karate clubs were somewhere else entirely doing their own thing. They hadn't really sat with many of the other hosts but when they did, it was usually with Hunny and Mori but not because they thought the pairing was cute, the two females sat with them to talk about the clubs and how they were doing as well as get the older pairs thoughts on the possible candidates for the next year. But today, both girls sat with the small group consisting of Haruhi, Mori, Kyoya, and Hunny to talk about how the rest of the year would go for the newest member of both clubs. As well as get to know Haruhi a bit better. The conversation was kept a bit quiet between them all since Kyoya told the girls that the other members (i.e Tamaki and the twins) didn't know that Haruhi had a new schedule to follow and wanted to keep it that way since the trio had a tendency to do some pretty annoying things when they found out the female host was doing something they didn't like, think she could handle, or try to "support" her. As part of the cosplay, the "pirates" were going to try and kidnap Haruhi and it was up to Hunny and Mori to rescue her at Kyoya's order but rather than Tamaki or the twins coming to try and nab her, it was Satoshi and Yasuchika. Kyoya quirked a brow at the two first years and Yasuchika mouthed that it would be explained in the "interrogation" later.

Since Haruhi was in the middle of talking to the two girls, the only warning she got that there would be danger was a pulse from her instincts and a similar one from Qurdox before two arms wrapped around her and another set grabbing her legs. Both Yasuchika and Satoshi had a good idea as to how Haruhi was going to try and get out of their hold but they didn't expect her to squirm like a snake to get free. Satoshi had to bite the inside of his lip to not laugh and thus drop his sister-in-law (he wouldn't say that out loud just yet since the Ceremony hadn't happened, or at school since it wasn't formalized) because of how she as acting. He counted himself lucky that he had a stronger grip on her than what the others would have used because he was sure that if he didn't, he would have been kicked rather hard. When the first years managed to get her into the changing rooms that were being used as "detainment" they fell to the floor laughing despite Haruhi glowering at them with her arms crossed over her chest.

"What is so funny?" she hissed.

"You moved like a snake trying to get out of the hold we had you in!" Satoshi laughed loudly. "Do you have any idea how hard it was to not laugh with you squirming like that?"

"Or how hard it was to keep hold of you without hurting you?" Yasuchika chuckled. "I guess it is lucky for us that we have a bit more strength than you do, otherwise you would have been dropped and both of us might have a few sore spots."

Haruhi was about to scold them a bit more but Qurdox pulsed and showed her the memory of what just happened from his perspective as well as Mori's and she began to pale slightly before falling onto the floor laughing with the two boys with her. They were right, she moved like a snake trying to get free. Unfortunately the levity faded the moment the doors opened to Tamaki and the twins.

"My precious daughter!" Tamaki shrieked as he ran up to her and pulled said girl into a crushing hug. "Are you okay?! Did those miscreants hurt you?! Don't worry, daddy will protect you!"

Satoshi let out a low growl that only Yasuchika heard due to his proximity and grabbed his cousin's arm before he could lash out at them. When Satoshi glared at him in confusion, Yasuchika just shook his head and nodded towards the door. In that one gesture Satoshi went from angry to amused as he heard his older cousin asking, rather loudly, if there were any of the customers that wanted to help help distract the evil "pirates" while he and Mori tried to "rescue" the Governor's daughter. Both young vampires heard the two female captains readily agree to help take up arms against the "pirates" while several of the girls that normally flocked to the twins and Tamaki agreed to help "distract" them. Since Tamaki and the twins were too busy trying to play tug-o-war with Haruhi, much to her annoyance and irritation of the two first years, they had no idea about what was to happen.

Haruhi was starting to get annoyed with being used as a rope and could feel her vampiric instinct trying to lash out at all three of them. It was held back only by the soothing pulses that Qurdox was giving off. She caught the faint movement of Yasuchika trying to keep Satoshi from lashing out and saw that the younger Morinozuka's eyes were flickering his normal dark gray eyes and a crimson hued close to black. She could guess that he was mad over the fact she being pulled around but had to wonder why his cousin held him back, she would have welcomed the help if it would have saved her arms. As it was, she could feel the bruises starting to form. She was about to call out to them when she was suddenly dropped but before she could fall to the ground, she was lifted up and held to someone's chest. Following it up, she felt a blush cross her face as she met Mori's dark eyes. She looked around to see Tanya and Kira chasing the twins around the room with wooden cutlasses and Hunny sitting on Tamaki with the taller blond trying to get out from underneath the smaller. She saw a few of the regulars for the twins run to join Tanya and Kira in trying to catch the two Cuubi but after a few more laps around the room, the female captains left it to the fan girls before walking over, their "weapons" at the ready.

Haruhi chuckled slightly when she saw the small pinned stars on their clothes indicating that they were "deputies" to help the military. It seemed more like an "American Wild West" type of thing but she brushed it off. Hunny bounced over once a few of Tamaki's regulars went over to "doctor" his wounds, almost mummifying him in bandages, and he began to "tie up" Satosh and Yasuchika. The latter of the two just glowered at his brother but went along with it, know that it was scripted and that was the only reason he wasn't trying harder to get out of it.

"Are you all right, Lady Haruhi?" Hunny tried to say without giggling, unfortunately he was failing miserably.

"I am now that my guards are here," Haruhi smiled, trying to stay on script. It was ahrd to do as she watched the twins get glomped and mummified in bandages that came out of nowhere.

"That is good," Mori stated. "Now that they are detained, we can return you to your proper place."

Haruhi nodded and followed the taller male, since he had yet to remove his arm from around her waist, back out to the main room where she was "fussed over" by Kyoya, which was part of the script, of course, but he was also making sure that there were no bruises due to the enthusiasm of the idiot-trio. She caught the faint narrowing of his eyes as he caught sight of the forming bruises but muttered a small healing spell that let them fade, giving her instinct a boost to what it was already mending. Once he was assured of her safety (not that he was too concerned given that he saw how she performed in the demonstration for Kendo and Judo, but also that he had a Shadow in the room as well) he turned to face a terrified and impressively tied up Tamaki, Hikaru and Kaoru as well as a rather bored Yasuchika and Satoshi who was trying his best not to laugh. Kyoya caught the faint line of blood on the younger Morinozuka's lips indicating that he had bitten it to the point of drawing blood and quirked a brow before shaking his head, he would ask later.

"The penalty for abduction of an official is usually death," Kyoya spoke clearly, causing several of the girls to gasp sharply and three of the five before him to pale considerably. "However, since the Governor's daughter has been rescued and is without serious injury, I shall leave your punishment up to her. My lady, how shall they be punished?"

Haruhi put her index finger to her chin in thought. That part of the script had been left blank, she figured that it was because the scripts had been changed on the fly and Kyoya hadn't gotten to that point or he figured that she would be able to come up with a punishment that would be worth the spontaneity. Knowing that she couldn't do anything that would endanger their lives or expose their true birth rites, she smiled when an idea popped into her head. What she had in mind would keep them busy and out of her hair for a few weeks.

"For the rest of the time until after the Gala," she said clearly, pausing to make sure everyone heard her words. "Captain Tamaki and his twin cohorts will be making the preparations for and cleaning up the Host Club after sessions are over while Satoshi and Yasuchika will be under my personal watch as escorts."

Hunny tried so hard not to laugh at the smug look Haruhi had on her face as she finished her decree on the punishment of the others, so much so that he had to bite his hand to not laugh out loud at the shocked and horrified faces of the trio. Hunny and Mori glanced at each other because they knew what the trio was thinking. Before Haruhi came in to the club, Kyoya either had all of their treats prepped beforehand and ready to serve and hired someone to help clean up the room afterwards or Mori did so while Hunny was taking a nap. When she arrived, she took over everything that had to deal with preparations and cleaning the club room once hours were done as part of her duties for breaking the vase, it also saved Kyoya and the club quite a bit of money. With a glance at his younger cousin and brother, he could tell that they were both trying so very hard to not laugh either. Kyoya covered his mouth with his hand as if in thought when in actuality he was hiding a smile. He had intentionally left that part of Haruhi's script blank because he wanted to know what she would come up with and he was glad he did. He cleared his throat to gain everyone's attention as he decided to add another nail to their proverbial coffins.

"An excellent idea, madam," Kyoya said with a faint smile. "However, might I add that they also be placed responsible for setting up for the Gala as well?"

"N-n-n-now H-ha-haruhi..." Tamaki pleaded. "You wouldn't do that to daddy, would you? Just your brothers, right?"

"You're not my dad, Tamaki-senpai," Haruhi clipped. "And I agree, that would be a suitable addition to the punishment."

A chill went down everyone's spines when Kyoya's smile got a little wider. "Excellent. I will see to it personally that Captain Tamaki and his crew carry out their punishments to the fullest extent given to them."

Haruhi nodded softly and looked towards Satoshi and Yasuchika. "You two will be fully under the supervision of the ones beside and behind me."

The younger pair just nodded and Haruhi caught the snickers from the two female captains beside her. She knew that she had just given the two female captains a little material to tease the younger Haninozuka and Morinozuka but she could tell that neither male minded since they were going to end up being around her any way, and they tended to be watched by their older brothers anyway. The rest of club was spent with Tamaki and the twins trying to get Haruhi to change her mind about their punishments but she wouldn't budge on it and then there was the additions of the young martial art captains. Kyoya had let them keep the deputy badges for the rest of the time they were there before leaving it to Satoshi and Yasuchika. He didn't regret a moment of it and had many a good laugh, although only done internally so as to not scare any of the guests. Once hours were done, and everyone changed out of costume, Ayame walked in with her books and paused at the sight of Tamaki and the twins cleaning rather than Haruhi. Kyoya had sent a message to the older woman about Haruhi being present for their final look over before switching to the new schedule. He had also told Haruhi that it would be best to get the tutor session done that day as well since she missed the one originally set for yesterday.

"I am guessing they did something to make you mad," she mused as she waked over.

"They used me as a rope in a game of tug-o-war," Haruhi huffed. "I don't think they realize how much that actually hurts. I would have done something about it but it was in the middle of Hosting Hours and I didn't want to risk hurting anyone else."

Ayame simply hummed in understanding before sitting across from Haruhi at a clean table. Once she had her books and notes set how she wanted them, she motioned for the younger girl to sit and hand over the assignments she had.

"I was able to get the assignments I missed on Friday and Monday so those won't be missing," Haruhi explained as she passed over a small stack of papers.

Ayame nodded and pushed a couple notebooks over to Haruhi that were filled with some quiz material about stuff done last week to see how well Haruhi retained everything done in the prior week. As she looked over the assignments she was impressed with how well Haruhi was doing despite the few absences she had. There were a few small mistakes here and there, which were to be expected since some of the questions asked at the end of some of the assessments were trick questions or were worded in such a way that would trip a person up in answering them. She was pleased to see that the tutoring sessions were paying off and that although there were still some fluctuations with the assignment grades, Haruhi's overall grades were still constant. Which meant that her fully paid scholarship was in no danger of being revoked.

"There were a few mistakes," Ayame explained once she saw that Haruhi was done with the small quizzes she had made. "But it wasn't anything too major or out of the ordinary. Let me explain the necessary changes I have added and why they would be better accepted than what you have."

Haruhi took the papers back and looked over what the older girl had written while she went over the quiz she had just finished. Again Ayame was pleased with Haruhi's accomplishments. There were even fewer mistakes on the small quizzes than on the actual assignments, which was an indication that she had studied what she could while she was gone from school. For the next half hour, Ayame went over the edits and changes with Haruhi, calmly explaining why certain questions were answered in specific ways and show possible ways to make an answer sound better without being too word heavy. Once that was done, both girls looked around to see that Tamaki and the twins were still cleaning the club room.

"Should I take over?" Haruhi asked aloud. "It's going to take forever for them to clean the club room, not to mention the dishes..."

"This is their task, Haruhi," Kyoya reminded her. "They would have been half way done by know if they had split the tasks between themselves instead of trying to do the same thing at the same time. Also the fact that Hikaru and Kaoru keep goading Tamaki and making more of a mess isn't helping matters either. If you are done with your session Haruhi, Hunny-senpai and Mori-senpai have offered to give you a ride home."

"We are done," Ayame stated. "I am glad these sessions have been a boon to you Fujioka-san. I hope to see more improvements in your assignments."

Haruhi nodded and began packing her things to head home. She wasn't fully sure if they were taking her back to the apartment, the Morinozuka estate or back to the Sanctuary but she quietly hoped that it was one of the latter two options. She was really enjoying the time she had been spending with Mori and his family, as well as spending time with her own newly extended family. She bid farewell to everyone else and followed Satoshi and Yasuchika towards their brothers before going as a group down to the waiting car at the gates. When all five were inside, the car began moving and Haruhi leaned back in her seat before being gently pulled closer to Mori. She gave him a soft smile and leaned against his side with a soft sigh.

"Today was relatively normal," Haruhi mused aloud. "I hope the next few days stay that way. I think I have had more than enough excitement for a while."

"Not to mention near life ending events," Yasuchika added, the memory of his brother being stabbed by a Holy Dagger coming to mind.

Hunny frowned softly at the look that crossed his brother's face and wanted to comfort him but knew that the younger Haninozuka wouldn't welcome it. Seeing his older cousin's dilemma, Satoshi nudged his friend.

"At least he is still with us thanks to Haruhi," he spoke calmly.

Yasuchika nodded softly in agreement. Although he didn't see eye to eye with his brother on a lot of things, Mitsukuni Haninozuka was still his brother and he did love the sugar-obsessed alien, even though he would never say it out loud. Taking in a deep breath and letting it out slowly, Yasuchika sat up and looked across from him towards the concerned face of his brother.

"Even though you are an alien," he said softly. "You are my brother and I am grateful that Haruhi was able to heal you."

Hunny smiled brightly and although he didn't say it, he knew that, deep down, Yasuchika loved him. He also agreed with what Haruhi had said and hoped with all of his might that the rest of the school year, or at least the time to the Gala, was going to be better than this past week but that solely depended on the people after Haruhi and a trio that tended to be over the top about practically everything.