I'm back, baby! Nanowrimo kicked my ass, I officially have a novel in the works, and I'm trying really hard to get back into the swing of this writing stuff! I'm also currently obsessed with Haikyuu, Wotaku ni Koi wa Muzukashi, and Gakuen Babysitters, in that order. I highly recommend them all, but I think it's about time I returned to my first true love. So, without further ado...
Thank you to Shadowing, Momochan77, gossamermouse101, Manglelove, Stolyint, caelestii.e, AmbertheCat, and a guest for your reviews! Know that I am deeply sorry for how long I'm taking with writing, and it pains me as much as you to not have more finished content for my babies.
Warning: Tiny mentions of blood and fighting near the end of the chapter. Fight scene is one paragraph long and starts when Jin and Hunny exchange a nod and split ways.
Let us begin!
*Chapter 7*
A warm tropical breeze danced across Jin's cheeks, accompanied by the gentle sounds of waves spreading across a cement floor. The heavy chlorine tinge of pool water tickled her nose, but she didn't mind so terribly. Taking in a deep breath, she shut her eyes and tilted her head up, letting the sun rays shining through the glass room hit her face. A little ways off, she could faintly hear Hikaru and Kaoru chatting with each other as they floated around the pool. A stark difference from the chilly spring weather outside.
"Is… is this a dream?"
"If it is, I'd like to wake up now."
Jin choked back a laugh at her sister's ever-present bluntness and opened her eyes to look at her. "Oh, lighten up, Haru. This place is beautiful!"
"But we have laundr-"
"It is stunning, isn't it?" Tamaki let out a deep sigh, reclining further on his chair as he stretched. "So peaceful and quiet… no customers to serve… just what the doctor ordered for a young warrior."
Jin raised an eyebrow at the self-appointed "warrior" title, but didn't press on it. Her brain-to-mouth filter, which was now titled 'is-this-something-Hikaru-and-Kaoru-would-say', told her it was a bad idea to tease the idea that Tamaki didn't actually like his guests. So instead, she turned back to Haruhi, who was staring at her imploringly.
Can we leave?
Yeah. If we can find the exit.
Haruhi immediately adopted a stern expression before charging off towards the foliage behind them. Which left Jin alone to distract Tamaki.
She pulled one of the chairs from Kyoya's table over to Tamaki and sat down, effectively blocking Haruhi from his view before prompting, "You know, even though Haru won't admit it, I for one think this was a good idea. The club has been kinda overwhelming lately and it is rather relaxing here."
"Of course! The Ohtori family spares no expense! Just look up in those trees." Tamaki lazily pulled one hand out from behind his head and pointed upwards. "Electronic replicas of tropical birds, with correct plumage color and bird song. The perfect atmosphere to let your mind wander and your body replenish."
Unless you're terrified of birds, Jin mentally tacked on. Out loud, she merely commented, "Yeah, I suppose that definitely adds to it. And since Shiro's last day at the Host Club was Friday, it's only fair that we all get a break." She casually ruffled the boy's hair, a tiny smirk playing on her lips. "Congrats on coming up with a non-irrational idea for once, Tamaki."
Her friend scrunched up his nose, half-heartedly swatting at her hand. "This was Kyoya's idea, but that's besides the point! When have I ever done anything irresponsible?"
"I have a feeling Kyoya keeps a list. Alphabetized for our convenience." Jin glances at their other classmate for confirmation, but just then Haruhi appeared at her side. Her face shared her quest's failure, but there was still a suspicious gleam in her eyes.
Crossing her arms and leaning against Jin's chair, she asked, "You mentioned this was Kyoya-senpai's idea and that this is an Ohtori building, right, Tamaki-senpai? I can't help but wonder now what the Ohtori family's business is really all about."
Kyoya finally pulled away from his fruit cocktail of a drink, his typical "pleasant" smile in place as he answered, "We manage a plethora of enterprises, Haruhi. If they have anything in common, though, I suppose it's that they all have to do with healing. Fingers in a lot of pies, if you will."
Haruhi narrowed her eyes, but didn't press the matter. If Kyoya didn't want to share information, there was no way to pressure him to say otherwise and they all knew it. Instead, she repressed a sigh before knocking her right hip against Jin's shoulder. "Alright, Nēchan, I've given up. You're free to go."
The three of them all look up at Haruhi, varying degrees of confusion on their faces, but all she did was hip check her sister once more. "Go. I can't find the exit so we're going to be stuck here for a while. You actually put on your swimsuit, and I know why, so you should go."
Tamaki opened his mouth to ask what Haruhi was talking about, but Jin had already shot out of her seat, darting along the cement in a way that looked like she was trying not to run but wasn't doing well with it. Haruhi just smiled and shook her head. As Jin veered away from the pool's edge, the twins spotted her.
"Jin-senpai!" Hikaru pulled himself out of the pool as she shouted, water dripping from his hair and bare shoulders as he climbed to his feet.
Kaoru pulled himself out as well, watching as his brother put himself in Jin's path. "Where're you going?"
"Hunny-senpai mentioned a surfing simulator on the way here, so I-"
"Woah! Those are thick glasses!"
Jin blinked rapidly as said golden-framed glasses were plucked off her face. Her right hand darted forward in an attempt to grab them back, but she only managed to catch Kaoru's wrist. Hikaru was quick to take the glasses himself, lifting them towards the light and looking through them from a distance. They were full framed and had an elegant twisting design on the sides, faint touches of red bleeding into the gold and browns near the ear pieces.
"It's like I'm looking through a magnifying glass! How bad is your eyesight?"
"Terrible. I literally can't even see which way your hair is parted and you're right in front of me, so give them back."
"Okay, okay! Geez!" Hikaru delicately placed the glasses back on Jin's face, pressing his finger against the tip of her nose as she readjusted them. "By the way, your swimsuit is super cute!"
"Yeah, I'm sure Kyoya-senpai would agree!"
Before she could comment (or maybe smack their heads together), the twins were already darting away, cackling. Fighting back a blush, Jin hurried off in the simulator's direction.
Back at the table, Haruhi was frowning after the twins. Sure, the joke about Jin and Kyoya being trapped together in the elementary school's janitor closet was funny for the first two or three days, but now the joke was just getting old. And kinda mean. Besides, neither Jin nor Kyoya were even reacting to them any longer, so where was the fun in it, now? Opening her mouth to say just as much, Haruhi barely got out a syllable before the twins were rounding on her instead.
"Woah, where's your swimsuit? We brought three whole suitcases full of our mother's designs for you to pick from!"
"Yeah, what gives? Can't you swim?"
"I can swim just fine, but I don't like to if I don't have to. Dressing up for swimming is kinda a hassle, anyways, and it's a pain getting the chlorine smell out of my hair afterwards. If I'm going to deal with pools at all, I usually just like sticking my feet in a wading pool so I don't have to change in or out of anything."
Immediately after she referenced a "commoner" item, Tamaki jumped into the conversation and Haruhi was forced to explain exactly what a wading pool was. As she did so, Kyoya settled further back into his chair, nonchalantly pulling out his black journal. Propping it open on his right knee, he casually flipped a few pages in, carefully eyeing the rest of the group to make sure they weren't paying him any attention.
Once he was sure the others couldn't care less about what he was doing, Kyoya finally flipped to the last page. "Fujioka Jin" was at the top in messy scrawl, like Kyoya couldn't have been bothered to write her name neatly. Of course, only Kyoya himself knew he'd written it like that specifically on the off chance that someone might find the page while he wasn't around to explain himself. Like if he was dead, for example.
Spotting Hunny running over to their group, Kyoya quickly scribbled "surfing" under Jin's list of abilities. It was a rather long list in comparison to the others littering his journal. He was starting to run out of room... but Kyoya made it a point to refuse to be impressed. He eyed the much shorter list of weaknesses at the bottom. So far the list only included "Quick to anger" and "Codependency", but even that second one had a question mark at the end.
Frowning, he snapped the journal shut and took another sip of his aloe water. Hunny-senpai launched himself at Haruhi, clinging to the girls' arm as he asked her to go swimming with him in the current pool. Actually, he was sort of begging, but she still refused. Granted, it was a much kinder refusal in comparison to the ones given to the twins and Tamaki, but that could be attributed to her confusion over the pink bunny-and-flower print kiddie float around his waist.
"Oh, this?" Hunny giggled as he twirled around, causing small, mindless smiles to appear on the other's faces. "Really cute, don'tcha think?" And with that, he pranced off.
"He's like a child."
"Yeah, you'd never expect him to be a 3rd year. Guess Shiro's assumption last week wasn't too far off-base."
Kyoya just shook his head.
Honestly, how could the others not hear the subtext in Hunny's comments? They were so absorbed in his act that they didn't even realize that's what it was. Which, Kyoya supposed, was probably the point. And besides, Hunny's cute antics weren't the worst things in the world. For example, a photograph of Hunny sitting on Mori's back while the taller boy paddled against the current of the flowing pool would raise a decent profit on the auction site later this week.
"Wah!"
Tamaki's lounge chair toppled backwards, spilling the boy onto the cement as he tried to escape the jet of water spraying his face.
"Ha ha! Bull's eye!"
"What do you say, Milord?"
"A water gun royale! Us versus you!"
"A direct hit in the face serves as forfeit-"
"No." Tamaki calmly plucked a towel from the arms of a nearby staff member, carefully patting his face dry. "Today is meant to be relaxing. Don't attempt to bring me into your juvenile ideas. I will not stand for them."
Hikaru and Kaoru glanced at each other, Kaoru raising an eyebrow before jutting his chin in Haruhi's direction. A moment later and Hikaru was standing in front of her, grabbing her hands and begging Haruhi to marry him.
"We could elope! A honeymoon in Atamiiiiiii!"
Hikaru arched his back, attempting and failing to escape the spray of cold water hitting the small of his back. The moment Tamaki turned to fire upon Kaoru, Hikaru dropped Haruhi's hands and spun around, scooping up his own water gun and charging. The twins gave loud battle cries as they started chasing Tamaki around, wicked smiles gleaming in the sunlight.
As the Water War began, Haruhi made yet another hasty retreat to Kyoya's table, assuming that none of the other boys would risk their lives by accidentally firing in his direction. She snagged Tamaki's slightly damp towel off the table and wiped her own face dry with a grimace. Tamaki's shot might've been a direct hit, but the spray had still gotten Haruhi just a bit.
Once she was satisfied with her own dryness, Haruhi handed the towel to a passing staff member in exchange for a coconut drink. She narrowed her eyes at the retreating employee, sipping her drink as she did so. There weren't as many staff members around as she expected there to be, and yet one was always nearby when needed.
Understaffed?
Not likely.
Secret employee tunnels beneath their feet like catacombs?
Plausible...
An unexpected shadow fell over her drink, pulling Haruhi out of her theorizing. Tilting her face backwards, she wasn't surprised to see Mori standing behind her, staring down at her face, silent as ever. He was dripping a huge puddle of water onto the cement, but since there were no towels around to be used Haruhi supposed she couldn't be annoyed with him. Silently, she turned around and raised her drink towards him in offering.
He took it with a grateful nod before taking a big drink, avoiding the straw Haruhi had been using. Haruhi glanced around the tall boy, spotting Hunny's blond head still bobbing along in the current pool. Even from a distance she could see his flushed face as he panted, little legs probably churning like mad beneath the surface.
"Hunny-senpai didn't want to come out with you?"
Mori shook his head. "He has lots of energy."
Haruhi nodded. That made sense. He had to burn off all the cake somehow…
In silent solidarity, the two watched as Hikaru, Kaoru, and Tamaki continued to wreak havoc off by the forest-like area. Kyoya was also still at the table, but he was scribbling something down in his black journal, so Haruhi couldn't tell if he was paying attention to the real world or not. Faintly, Haruhi wondered if Jin's day was turning out to be peaceful. She probably should've followed her…
"I've got you now!"
"Missed me! Missed me!"
"Augh! Take this! Side leap beam! Gotcha!"
True to his word, Tamaki's trick shot finally managed to hit both Hikaru and Kaoru in the back of the head, disqualifying them from their own game. But, almost as if they planned it, the twins got their universal revenge in the form of Tamaki slipping on the wet cement and somersaulting into a lever, completely breaking it in half.
The faint crunch sound was covered by Tamaki's shout of pain, and everyone watching winced, even though Haruhi was pretty sure Kyoya was strictly concerned about the property damage caused by Tamaki's face.
The floor began to tremble.
Everyone spun around just in time to see a gigantic wave of water suddenly bearing down on Hunny, who was staring in their direction.
"Hunny-senpai! Get out of there!"
"Mitsukuni!"
Hunny faced forward, eyes widening as he screamed at the approaching wave. Mori went to run but slipped on the ever-growing puddle beneath his feet, scraping his knee on the cement. Hikaru and Kaoru ran in Tamaki's direction, where the blond was frantically pulling at the broken lever to no avail.
"HELP!"
"Hold on! I'm coming!"
"Nēchan!"
At Haruhi's shout, all the boys stopped what they were doing and watched as Jin suddenly appeared on the other side of the current pool, a lime-green surfboard tucked beneath her arm. She jumped in and managed to get on her knees just before the wave propelled the board forward. Mouth set in a firm line, she waited as she was carried directly next to Hunny, shooting an arm out and plucking him out of the water.
The host's cheered on the sidelines… until they spotted the two wobbling dangerously on the board.
Before the host's smiles even managed to dip, Jin had already tossed Hunny to the side and onto the cement, where his floatie immediately pops upon contact with the hard concrete floor. Unfortunately, the second weight shift proves to be too much, and Jin's surfboard is knocked out from under her. The last thing the others see is the giant wave knocking the board into Jin's face before she disappears under the water.
"Jin!"
"Nēchan! No!"
Haruhi makes a lunge for the pool, only to be yanked back by none other than Tamaki. Using his grip on her shoulders to all but toss Haruhi in Honey's direction, Tamaki starts running after the current pool. "You help check on Hunny! I'll follow Jin!"
Haruhi scoffed, hurrying after Tamaki once she regains her balance. "Yeah right! Like I'm not going after Nēcha-"
"AAAAAHH! Go back! GO BACK!"
Alligators. Of all things… there were alligators in the next pool. Not animatronics, but real, actual, living alligators. Haruhi likely would've been frozen in shock were it not for the twins grabbing her by her arms and dragging her back to "safety". And given the fact she was facing backwards, she had the perfect view of Kyoya casually jogging after everyone as they, understandably, freaked out.
He doesn't even seem surprised. Is this what it's like being rich? Trying to find new ways to surprise your other rich friends by having to resort to ALLIGATORS?
The other boys were out of breath by the time they stopped running, so Haruhi was the first one to speak up. "Okay, Kyoya-senpai. What was that all about?"
"Hmm…" The boy pulled out his black journal and pen, tapping the pen against the paper a few times before speaking. "Well, for starters, letting the alligators roam loose around their pond create some difficulties for the residents and their ability to travel around the building. And the controls for the artificial currents should be relocated to somewhere with less customer access. I'll have to inform the designers. Thank you all. Those are good things for us to know before we open to the public."
The unmistakable tremble in everyone else's shoulders helped Haruhi keep her anger in check. It was a little relaxing to know that she wasn't the only one who was outright furious at the idea of being an Ohtori Family guinea pig.
Despite that, however, Mori still had to hastily snag her ankle once she made a rather threatening step in Kyoya's direction.
"Haruhi? Is-"
"Kyoya-senpai, even though you obviously don't care that Nēchan is missing and could be hurt, could you contribute, like, an ounce of sympathy and maybe help us find her?"
Silence followed her words, all the boys staring at her like they'd just witnessed a horrific car accident. Kyoya's expression was especially entertaining, but Haruhi couldn't find it in herself to care or enjoy it. Nēchan… her onēchan was missing. They had to find her. Now.
"What do we do?"
Kyoya remained still for one more second, his eyes hidden behind the glint on his glasses, before he snapped his journal shut and used his free hand to gesture to the trees behind him. "We should follow the current pool, which means we'll have to go around the alligator exhibit. We'll cut through the Jungle Zone-"
"You heard him, Men! Move out!"
Kyoya raised an eyebrow but didn't comment as Tamaki stormed past him, dramatically swatting away the large leaves to find a path. With a sigh, Kyoya gestured for the others to follow their president into the thicket, and their "adventure" was officially underway. The seven walked along the path for perhaps a full minute, Tamaki's pointless bravado doing little to boost morale or cover up the far-to-realistic animal noises, whatever he was intended to achieve, until he finally paused in between two little bamboo huts.
Spinning around on his heel and crossing his arms, Tamaki huffed, "Okay, Kyoya, where are we going now? It's a jungle in here…"
"That's sort of the point, since we're in the Jungle Zone. As for finding Jin, we just have to follow the signs for the East gate, since that's where the current pool ends. However, given the time we'll have to take a short break in our little search-and-rescue for now."
Tamaki gasped, scandalized as Kyoya walked away from the group towards one of the huts. "How can you-"
His following words were cut off by a sudden downpour of rain.
"Ah, the rain squall. Right on time," Kyoya mused, the only dry member of the group.
"Argh! We're getting drenched!" Tamaki, as dramatic as ever, wailed like he was melting under the warm water. "Quick, Haruhi, into this hut!"
The blond went to grab at Haruhi's arm, but found that she had already followed the twins under Kyoya's chosen refuge. He blanched, mumbling as the others continuously chose to follow Kyoya. The scandal! They wouldn't even rush out to brave the rain to save Jin because Kyoya said the rain was "about to let up"! And when Tamaki tried to make a plan to cover more ground, they still followed Kyoya's intuition! Tamaki couldn't remember a time he had been so insulted! Haruhi didn't even like Kyoya at the moment!
Tamaki wasn't the only one who noticed it, either. As they walked through the forest, Haruhi's mouth might've been shut, but when her eyes weren't following the trail they were attempting to drill a hole through the back of Kyoya's head with enough force that Kyoya felt a shiver travel down his spine.
The boys watched Haruhi carefully as they picked their way through the trees, wondering what was could possibly be going through her head. In the short time that they'd gotten to know Haruhi, it was clear that unless she was with Jin, she kept all of her emotions as buttoned down as possible. Without Jin to translate or make Haruhi relax, she could be as stoic as Mori when she wanted to be… which meant the best option to make her open up was-
"Haru-chan? Jin-chan's going to be fine."
Haruhi's eyes glanced at Hunny before finding the ground again. "Yeah, probably… unless she lost her glasses. Or they broke. Or she was hit too hard in the head. Or if she swallowed too much pool water. Or if she hurt herself-"
"Haru-chan!" Hunny's eyes were watery as he jumped up into Haruhi's arms, shivering a little at the horrible images now in his head.
The rest group slowed to a stop, unable to not think about the worst-case scenarios Haruhi had just shared with them. Mori stepped forward first, carefully reaching out until his hand was hovering over Haruhi's head. Then he gave her a few pats. She and Hunny both looked up at him, surprised to see a calm half-smile on his face.
Hunny slowly slid out of Haruhi's arms, wiping his face with his arm. "Takashi's right, Haru-chan. Jin-chan's tough, and she's gonna be alright. We'll find her. Right, Takashi?" Hunny's cousin hummed, rumpling Haruhi's hair for a few more seconds until she finally returned the smile.
Taking in a deep breath, Haruhi looked around, finally paying attention to her surroundings. The trees were starting to thin out, but she couldn't hear any rushing water. Were they still following the current pool? She turned to ask, but Kyoya was busy talking on the phone off to the side of the trail and in the back of the group, the twins were once again being shouted at by Tamaki.
She groaned, "At this rate, Nēchan's going to find us before we find her."
Hunny gasped, his eyes lighting up. "Haru-chan, Haru-chan, that's it!" He bounced around in place, tugging at Haruhi's hands. "Takashi and I have… we have this thing that, well, where we just know where the other is. Because we know each other so well, we know where the other is going to be! Family instinct! Maybe you can use it to find Jin-chan!"
"Family… instinct?" Haruhi tilted her head, but pulled her hand out of Hunny's hold to bring out the small paper map she'd grabbed of the park from her pocket. Unfolding it, she quickly found where they were currently standing, then looked at the spot where Kyoya said Jin likely would've washed up. Now… if I was Nēchan, where would I…
"There." Haruhi traced a line on the map with her finger, her smile growing in size. "That's the path she took."
Hunny beamed. "Really! Should we tell the others-"
"No. We're taking too long as it is. Kyoya would question it, Tamaki would try to take over…"
Hunny and Mori nodded along. As much as they liked their friends… they completely understood Haruhi's point. Without another thought, they turned and followed Haruhi as she left the path, her nose buried in her map.
"Right, so Nēchan probably started following the current pool back, but there's another attraction here, which means she would've had to go around… losing the sound of the water like we did so she'd follow the path… and-" Haruhi's explanation was cut off by a squeak of surprise, her arms coming up to cover her face as a rather wet fern smacked her in the face.
"Haru-chan? You okay?"
"Yeah…" Haruhi groaned and rubbed her hands across her face. "I'm finnneeeee!" Her hands flailed about wildly as she stumbled over a tangle of tree roots, not falling over solely because of Mori's quick reflexes. Without another word, the tall boy scooped Haruhi up into his arms, her dangling feet now just barely brushing the tops of the ferns around them.
Hunny let out a gleeful giggle and jumped onto his cousin's back. "Good thinkin', Takashi! C'mon, Haru-chan, where to next?"
"Uh…" Haruhi cleared her throat, pretending to smooth out the wrinkles on her map like the new arrangement wasn't making her blush from embarrassment. "Just… keep going straight. There should be a little clearing up ahead. Another underdeveloped area, apparently."
"Okay! Mush, Takashi! Mush! Hehe…"
Haruhi peeked up at Mori's face as he began walking forward, and was once again shocked by a small smile adorning his mouth. He reached up with his free arm and patted the top of Hunny's head, much like he had done to Haruhi a few minutes ago, before going back to brushing the still dripping plants out of the way.
And so they went, Hummy taking to humming a cherry song as they trooped deeper into the trees. Haruhi occasionally redirected Mori's direction, but other than that she had little else to do but enjoy the ride. She had to admit, now that she wasn't fighting to take each step, the jungle was very pretty. The water from the squall earlier still clung to the trees as well as the ferns at their feet, and it was very pretty to see them shining in the sunlight. As the trees thinned out, Haruhi could see peeks of the glass roof above their heads. The light blue sky from earlier was starting to fade away, purples starting to bleed into the color that would soon include reds and oranges as the evening set in.
Haruhi wiggled her left foot, a giggle almost escaping when her toes accidentally brushed against the cold wetness of a nearby branch.
The magic of the moment was short lived as the trio emerged into the clearing Haruhi had mentioned earlier. Mori carefully set the other two down, again not saying much, but if Haruhi had to guess, she would say that his arms were probably tired.
Putting her hands on her hips, Haruhi looked around the clearing and nodded. "Right. Nēchan should be here soon, so let's just wait for a moment."
"O-kay!" Hunny gave her a salute before turning to his right and climbing up a tree with the same ease that he climbed up Mori. He wiggled up the trunk until he got to a branch in the middle, sitting down and raising a hand to shield his eyes. A faint smile teased the corner of Haruhi's mouth when she realized he was looking for Jin.
Letting out a breath, she turned and looked around herself. A faint whisper of anxiety fluttered around her lungs when all she saw was trees. Had she gotten it wrong? Had they somehow passed by Nēchan, missing her entirely? Were they the ones lost? Or should they continue walking towards the current pool?
She bit her lip and looked back up at Hunny's mount. Mori's arm was probably still tired but she and Hunny could walk by themselves-
"Agh! Ouch! Stupid…"
Haruhi's body spun around in an instant, facing the direction the voice had come from. "Nēchan?"
There was a faint pause of sound, during which Haruhi realized she'd completely missed the sound of leaves rustling against each other, followed by a loud, "Haru? Haru, was that you?"
"Nēchan! We're over her!" Haruhi ran across the clearing, halfway across when Jin tumbled out from a rather tall shrub within the tree line. She only took a moment to reorient herself before running full-tilt at Haruhi and scooping her baby sister up in a tight hug.
Haruhi giggled as Jin spun them around once before pulling away, eyes darting all over her sister's smiling face. And, as soon as she's sure that Jin isn't injured, she throws a punch at her stomach. Jin laughs around her unwilling puffs of air as Haruhi continues to punch her stomach.
"Stupid! That was so stupid, Nēchan! Darn you for being the hero all the time! Stop doing things like that! You're not allowed to do cool looking stuff any more! I'm gonna get grey hairs prematurely!"
"But you admit that I looked cool?"
Haruhi puffs out her cheeks, annoyed but still smiling as she collapses back into her sister's arms. "Shut up, Nēchan."
"And you're going to go grey before me?"
Jin gets another punch for that, but she assumes she deserves it. Whispering a not-entirely-sincere apology into Haruhi's hair, she presses a quick kiss there before looking up at the boys now running to join them. Hunny has a few leaves stuck in his hair, but Jin decides to save the questions for after hug-time.
Sure enough, Hunny is quick to launch himself at Jin, thanking her and apologizing somehow in the same breath. Jin gently shushes her friend while also accepting the head pats from Mori. His face was smooth and emotionless as always, but Jin knows that he's beyond relieved to have found her.
She grinned. All was well in the w-
"Freeze! Unhand the girl, Sir! Now!"
"Huh?!" Haruhi gasped, finding herself tucked in between her sister and Mori, both of whom were looking around the not-so-empty clearing. A whole platoon of men dressed in black from head to toe were surrounding them, rifles at hand and pointing them at the little group of four.
Haruhi shivered and looked away from the gun barrel pointed right at her face, clutching at Jin's swimsuit top… only for her sister to carefully pull her off. What was she doing? Haruhi risked a glance upwards just in time to see Jin and Hunny share a tiny nod before they split.
Hunny used Jin's left hip as a springboard of sorts and tackled one of the guys to the ground, somersaulting so the guy was flung out towards the trees. On the opposite side of the group, Jin had grabbed one of the gun barrels and pushed it upwards, confusing the man holding it long enough for her to smash her elbow into his nose. A fountain of blood flowed from the hit and the man went down, dazed.
Haruhi gasped as her arms were grabbed and she was spun around. For a second she tried to escape the hold, until she realized it was Mori pulling her away from the fighting. He tucked her against his chest and held her there while the fight raged on. Shouts of pain and screams echoed around them, accompanied with the unmistakable sounds of flesh on flesh flighting and more than a few snaps and cracks that Haruhi didn't want to identify.
"Jeez… what a buncha weaklings."
"We didn't even get a chance to warm up."
Haruhi turned her head a bit and Mori released her, letting her see the carnage. Jin and Hunny were standing back to back in the middle of a circle of dazed or possibly unconscious guards. They didn't even look tired!
"I hope this was a good lesson for you all! Don't pick on my friends, y'hear? That's a no-no! A big no-no!"
Jin turned her head sightly, gazing at Hunny over her shoulder and offering a wry smile. He was really turning up the cute factor, as per usual when he finished a fight. It was like he was proving to both himself and others that he was still an adorable fluff-ball, despite his abilities.
Carefully walking over the men, Jin pulled Haruhi back into a hug. "You okay?"
"Yeah… I'm okay."
"Am I still cool?"
"Yeesh. Yeah, sure, Nēchan."
A sudden rustle from the trees had all four of them on high-alert once more, expecting another squadron of men. To their surprise and relief -save for Haruhi- it was just the rest of the Host Club.
"Ah! There you all are."
"We heard the sounds of screams and came running!"
"Oh, you found Jin-senpai!"
"Haruhi! Are you okay?!" Tamaki sprinted across the field, his eyes brimmed with tears. "I was so worried about you! Wicked girl, worrying me so- ack!"
Jin raised an eyebrow at her classmate, her right arm straining a bit as she pushed her hand against his forehead. Tamaki whined, his hands outstretched and still reaching for Haruhi even as she drifted away to a more safe distance. Jin rolls her eyes. Honestly, if Tamaki was serious about his crush on Haruhi, he was going to have to tone down the affection and go at Haruhi's speed. Otherwise, Jin was going to become more involved than she had planned for.
"Woah… they're definitely out cold."
"Eh, what did you expect? So, was it Hunny-senpai or Worthy Matron-senpai who did this?"
"Both of us," Jin deadpanned, carefully moving Tamaki so he was standing on his own and not facing Haruhi's direction. "As terrible as it might sound, it was actually a little fun being able to stretch my legs a bit, so to speak."
"Yeah! Jin-chan and I hardly ever get to spar together-"
"-and for good reason."
Hunny and Jin both looked to the side, avoiding Mori's hard stare. The atmosphere grew thick with embarrassment and backstory and it was too interesting for the twins to let pass by…
"Oh, it's dark out! We need to go home so we get to school on time tomorrow!"
"Darn it…" The twins muttered.
Jin sighed as well, pushing Tamaki a bit until he started following Hunny and Mori on his own. "It's alright, you guys. You didn't plan on this happening. Maybe we can do something else together another time. But for now, we should really head home."
The twins groaned a bit more, but didn't argue. They were pretty tired after running around the giant garden for hours. Haruhi took some convincing, but the twins and Tamaki were both lingering at the edge of the trees, so she had no choice of not walking with them.
Jin nibbled on her bottom lip as she surveyed the damage she and Hunny had caused. "Should we… maybe call an ambulance?"
"No need. I've already notified a few on-hand nurses to take care of these men. Considering they attacked you rather than find you, it would say they've earned a few minutes of laying in the dirt." Kyoya looked away from his family's employees to find Jin watching him, her eyes narrowed, but not in a 'glaring' sort of way. "What is it?"
"I don't know if you meant that to be mean, or to be nice."
"It isn't obvious?"
"Hmm… not yet." She maintained eye contact with Kyoya for another few seconds before turning to follow the others. She only got five steps in when a sharp 'what's that' stopped her again. She faced Kyoya again, surprised to see that his eyes were rather wide.
"What's what?"
"On your back, above your hip. You have a bruise welling up."
"I do?" She looked around, twisting until she could see above her right hip. "Oh, I do. Huh… I think that was from the butt of one of the rifles. I'm not as fast when I'm on rough terrain with no shoes."
"So it was from one of my family's employees?"
Jin paused, eyes flicking back up to Kyoya's face. "I suppose… but I wouldn't be able to name or identify them."
"Hm." Kyoya twisted his mouth to the side in distaste before glancing back at the men sprawled in the dirt. "Be that as it may, you should not have been required to fight back at all. I gave specific orders not to harm anyone they come across and that you were simply washed away. I'll have to put in a request for less aggressive training in the future. We can't have our guards threatening every patron they come across. What if a child went missing but was found by their parents when security showed up? Then where would we be?"
Jin blinked. Had… was Kyoya…
"Nēchan! Come on, I don't want to walk back without you!"
"Ah! Coming, Haru!"
Jin gave Kyoya one last fleeting glance before she hurried over to Haruhi. To her surprise, the rest of the host club was also waiting for her. The twins and Tamaki seemed to be bickering about something yet again, not pausing in their argument even as Kyoya joined their group and they all started walking back to the garden's exit.
With an exhausted sigh, Jin looped an arm around Haruhi's shoulder and followed the boys, the day finally catching up with her. Her feet ached, her eyes were tired, and her skin felt tight from the chlorine water. She needed a shower, a meal, and an early bedtime, in that order.
Haruhi leaned against Jin's side, letting out her own sigh as she did so. "I mentioned that I liked the beach, which is why Tamaki is yelling at Hikaru and Kaoru. They seem to think that something's wrong with me. Apparently, I'm too confusing."
"Pfft."
"Shut up."
Jin gently tugged at a lock of Haruhi's hair before relaxing her hand again. "You've been saying that an awful lot today. Did I miss anything exciting while I was washed away?"
"Nothing much. Just some alligators." Haruhi tilted her head back and smiled at Jin's expression. "I'll tell you about it later. For now, fill me in on how you didn't lose your glasses."
"They got tangled up in my hair. Pain in the ass to get them out, but I suppose that counts as luck." Jin's explanation earned her another hum and the two lapsed into silence for a moment, the other's voices washing over them. "I got hit during the fight. I already have a bruise."
"Really? Where? Does it hurt?"
Jin waved her free hand through the air. "Nah. I didn't even realize I had it until Kyoya pointed it out. I'll be fine… just have to sleep on my right side for a few nights."
Haruhi made a low, disgruntled noise in the back of her throat, her voice equally grumpy when she says, "Oh yeah, something I forgot to mention. You know how you were wondering why we were even invited here in the first place? I found out. We were Kyoya-senpai's guinea pigs for the day. He didn't even care that you were washed away because it helped get him feedback."
"Really?" Jin mused, her eyes carefully observing the back of Kyoya's head. He didn't give off any inclination that he had heard Haruhi's comments, but Jin wouldn't put it past him to at least suspect. The lack of concern also didn't surprise her…
...But she can't help but think that Kyoya seemed almost concerned about her bruise.
"Nēchan? What is it?"
Jin doesn't respond immediately, choosing her words wisely. "I think… I'm missing some information."
"Oh." Haruhi looks up. "Want to share?"
"Not… yet. But someday," Jin promised.
Um… I'm sorry?
Yeah, I took a break that turned out a lot longer than I planned for, but once I cleared out some time and sat down, the ending of this chapter flowed a lot better than when I left off. Also, I'm now down with the 2nd manga book! We're slowly getting through this!
I'm including a bonus chapter next before jumping into the 3rd book, so hopefully I'll get that out sooner than this one!
See you next chapter!