Hanako woke before the sun broke over the horizon. In the still darkness of the guest bedroom, she squinted at the clock and decided that it was useless to try and get any sleep after her futile attempts throughout the night. After the cousins dropped her off the previous night, she crept up to her room and avoided Kyoya entirely. Her muscles were stiff and her pulse was thunderous when she crawled into the plush bed. It didn't matter how comfortable the sleeping arrangements were. Hana barely slept. She rubbed the crust out of her eyes and threw off the comforter like its useless down caused offense.
She padded to the bathroom and flipped on the low lights over the bath. She hadn't bathed the night before, and her skin felt filthier than it may have been with the memory of her grandparents' secretary squeezing her wrist. Hana let the gilded faucet run and picked out her favorite floral oil from the selection of bath treatments beside the tub. The subtle aroma of chrysanthemum and vanilla filled the air as she swirled her hand through the warm water. Satisfied, she pulled her hand up and shook off the droplets before turning to the mirror.
Her lack of sleep was apparent. Her skin seemed duller than it was yesterday, a glassiness reflected in her eyes, and shadows were painted under her eyes. Hana frowned. She never resented the similarity she bore to her mother. It had always been a point of pride for her to hear how much she looked like her enchanting, brilliant mother. Picking up a brush, she ran it down the length of her hair, noting, as she did, the features she inherited from Akina. Her mother's naturally shaped brows, her famous caramel irises, the slope of her nose, and her aristocratic lips. Her frown deepend. Some of the things that she loved most about her appearance were Matsura characteristics. It was a fact that she tried not to dwell on.
Akina planted a powerful resentment of the Matsuras in her daughter. For as long as she could remember, her grandparents were known to her as the manipulative, hateful people who disinherited their only child and heir because her choice in partner had neither the name nor the wealth to save them from the edge of bankruptcy. They held on to their status solely by the grandiosity of the Matsura name, but it was a known fact that they were slipping. She didn't meet her grandparents until after her father's death, but she knew that they started vying for custody of her before their daughter's body went cold.
"Haah," Hana took a deep gulp of air and dunked her head under the scented water. She couldn't think about that. She was the one who insisted that she could handle being in this place, and she had to see it through, if only to prove to herself that she could.
When Hanako finished with her bath, she changed into a clean suit and button down. The sun was starting to shyly peek through the darkness of the night, and Hanako left her room with a soft click of the door behind her.
The Ootori cottage, like most of Ootori-sama's personal properties, was beautiful but lifeless. Yoshio Ootori was not a man whose vocabulary included the word plain. He lined his walls with expensive oil paintings from all over the world, sculptures collected from throughout history, and he indulged in every luxury available to a man like him. Still, none of the Ootori residences felt very much like home. Deep in her heart, she missed the imported walnut bookcases lined with Ginori teacups and the ivory walls covered entirely by framed garments, puzzles, and pictures tracking the growth of a most beloved trio of children.
Stepping into a dark, unoccupied kitchen only worsened the growing ache in her chest. It was so unlike the mornings with the alpha team at the main house. Hana didn't bother turning on the lights when she made her way to the fruits section and curated a light, summertime breakfast for Kyoya. She may not be a genius in the kitchen, but she was more than capable of preparing fruits and yogurt. With a rhythm found, Hana could set aside the memory of the previous night and focus on this new day. It was in the past, now, and nothing was going to change.
To her surprise, the last slice of fruit split under her knife, and as soon as she began her task, she was done. Checking the clock, she knew that she had some time before she could even consider waking Kyoya. Hana left the kitchen and started walking through the long halls of the Ootori family's Karuizawa cottage. It reminded her of the Okinawa villa more than it did Misuzu's pension. As she recalled, the Ootoris were among the first of their families to buy property in Karuizawa. Their parents talked often in their children's midsts, paying no mind to the conversations they would have. As a result, the young people at Ouran Academy tended to know more than their parents expected.
She couldn't place the exact conversation between Akina and Yuzuha, but she knew that the two women had been good friends with Yoshio Ootori and Yuzuru Suoh in their teenage years. Akina, bold and remorseless, found a way to taunt her parents in a way that only Akina Matsura could determine. As each of them came into their family fortunes, they bought sprawling amounts of property in Karuizawa right out from under the Matsuras. First, Yuzuha and her mother, who never could stand that stuffy Shiory Matsura. Next, Yuzuru, who had just been named patriarch. Finally, Yoshio and his new wife. When Akina married Yuudai and befriended the Haninozuka-Morinozuka family, they also purchased land along the Matsura property line.
Hana wasn't quite sure how she found herself in the unused study, but she found herself standing in the doorway to a particularly spacious office that seemed much less daunting than the one Ootori-sama preferred in his main house. The furniture seemed softer, a velvet chaise and more historic desk were the conversation pieces in the room. There were pictures scattered on the surfaces that Hanako had never seen before. She picked up a frame, and she thought that it could have been Kyoya and Tamaki looking back at her. Yet, the Ouran crest on their sweaters was dated, and the neatly combed blond hair couldn't have been Tamaki's.
She turned her attention to the frame beside the one she picked up. Young Yoshio and Yuzuru had their arms slung over a young woman's shoulders. Her caramel colored eyes were directed straight at the camera with a small smile playing on her lips as if daring the photographer to do their beauty justice. Her long, slender arms were wrapped around another woman's waist. Yuzuha Hitachiin's hair was grown out to her jaw, the longest Hana had ever seen it, but on the pixie-like woman, it looked chic and stylish. They were at some kind of café, one that Hana and the twins still frequented not so far off campus. She set the frame in her hand down carefully. Their parents had grown into a world of unprecedented hardships, borne from their wealth and responsibilities. Perhaps it was only a matter of time before the Host Club met the same fate.
Hanako left the study as she found it and made her way back to the kitchen. Sunlight poured through the halls now. She prepared the dining table for Kyoya's breakfast and set out a cup of coffee to accompany his small meal. Her morning alone somehow relaxed her while illiciting a new sense of discomfort, but she was determined to focus only on the tasks at hand, so as not to arouse Kyoya's suspicions. The door to the dining hall opened, and Hanako looked up briefly while pouring a glass of water.
"Good morning," she greeted him. "You're up early." She hadn't expected him for at least another hour or so. He appeared about as cheerful as could be anticipated that early in the morning, but he was already groomed and dressed for another day out.
He strode to the place at the table where his food was set, "Good morning, Hana. I suppose so. I had an awful time getting to sleep last night." He opened his napkin with a flick of his wrist and set it across his lap before lifting the cup to his lips.
Hana offered him a wan smile, hoping it looked more sincere than it felt, "Well, it's not often we stay the night at this cottage. I'll be sure to have the arrangements changed for the next few nights."
"That won't be necessary," Kyoya replied unhurriedly. "I think we've been here long enough. Make the preparations for a flight home tomorrow morning."
Hana nodded, "Alright. When would you like to go to the pension?" The satisfaction of the normality between them provided her some ease. She felt confident that they could go the remaining day in Karuizawa without any more trouble.
"Let's go after breakfast." Their mornings together weren't usually chatty, and they both felt comfortable in silence with each other. It wasn't out of the ordinary for Kyoya to finish his breakfast without a single word uttered between them. He was a very private person, and even Hana recognized that she couldn't always decipher the thoughts running through his head at any given moment. Nevertheless, they had worked their collaboration down to a system and developed an understanding between them. At least, that was what Kyoya thought.
"When were you going to tell me that a Matsura employee cornered you outside of the pension?" His question came down like a hammer on glass. The cadence of his voice hadn't changed, but there was an accusation and anger written in the hardness of his slate gray eyes that she had hoped to avoid.
She sighed, feeling both disappointed and annoyed by the impending conversation, "I didn't want you to worry."
"You are my employee," he reminded her pointedly. "It's my responsibility to worry about your well-being."
It was the same old song that the hosts had been singing, only the verse had changed. Hearing his insistence riled her exasperation and spurred her indignance. "It's the other way around, Kyoya," she retorted. "The Matsura aren't a threat to you, so I didn't think it was worth reporting." Her personal problems had nothing to do with her job, and there wasn't a single stroke of professionalism in bringing the incident up to Kyoya.
Her insistence only worsened the glower twisting his handsome face. They were locked in a circle, repeating the same arguments over and over without ever finding a compromise between them. "Your safety is just as important as mine."
"No, it's not," she snapped. Hana's eyes burned with fury as she held his gaze, daring him to challenge her on the point. They didn't live in a world where a fallen heiress like her could have the gall to stand on equal ground with someone like Kyoya Ootori. She didn't have the resources to her name to even consider the notion. It was insulting that he even thought she was so arrogant that she would entertain such a suggestion. An ugly scoff escaped her lips, and she shook her head, "Let's not act like you care about this, Kyoya."
He raised a brow at her, "Don't I?"
"You've never cared about an employee before in your life," she shot back with the full force of a brutal truth. The set line of his mouth twisted into a frown, and she knew that she was right. Kyoya Ootori had never genuinely cared for the help, and she knew that it rocked his high born sensibilities when she was taken under his roof as one of his attendants. "You and the others can't stop treating me like a peer or a friend, but we all know that it's not true anymore," she continued. "We can play at house all we want, Kyoya, but there are times that we have to acknowledge the truth. I'm as good as a commoner."
The words twisted their guts, and Hana watched something dark turn his irises to onyx with fury. "Never say such things again," he practically snarled, the shadows in his eyes swirling with emotion, "and never let me hear from someone else when you're in danger." He meant to silence her indignance there and stop her from spewing such nonsense. But he had been the one to start, and she would be the one to finish.
"I'm right," she insisted. "You know that I am. You can't keep interfering with my job! None of you can. Did you think I haven't noticed it? Just because you're all in my life again doesn't mean that we're back to the way things used to be. It doesn't make me anything more than your guard, and I don't need you to coddle me. I'm not one of your princesses."
He flew to his feet in outrage, and his chair scuttled back as he did. It wasn't often that Kyoya looked so intimidating and dangerous. He rarely lost his cool, but when he did, it would terrify any lesser person than the young woman standing before him. "This commoner act of yours is getting old," he said with his habitual callousness. "You're a Matsura and a Negida, a blueblood through and through."
"The Negida name was chump change thirty years ago," she pointed out, but he spoke over her with a look that warned her not to interrupt him again.
"Stop acting like the servant, because we all know you belong in our ranks. But if you insist on this ruse, then you should just follow my orders and go home." Kyoya was not a violent man, but he carried himself with an air of greatness and superiority that could intimidate most others, giving an impression that could match even his father's.
"It's not your responsibility to protect me," she repeated her point, refusing to yield to a man who almost always got what he wanted when he wanted.
"How many times must we have this conversation?" he hissed.
"You've never treated me like I needed to be saved," she spoke over him, just as he had done to her a moment ago. He fell silent. "Why are you starting now?" The passion faded from her gaze, and she searched his cold façade in a way that reminded him strongly of the look she wore after the ill-conceived kiss they shared at the villa.
Kyoya worked his jaw in frustration. She could see him wrestling with the answer he already knew and all of the limitations keeping him from making the acknowledgement. There were things that he couldn't even admit to himself if they were to make their partnership work. What they had was far more than the transient arrangement his father intended when he took Hanako under his wing. There were goals at the end of their partnership, things that they were working for and needed each other to achieve. It took years of companionship and teamwork for them to get to this point, and even now, their relationship was deceptively complex.
"Would you rather I let you face expulsion for disfiguring Komatsuzawa?"
"You can't hold that over me when I didn't even want to get involved with the Newspaper Club in the first place." She was too angry with him to acknowledge all of the fears he knew to prod at and the insecurities he knew to nick at. Kyoya was nothing if not intelligent, and he knew her better than most. Perhaps it was a dirty trick to chip away at her confidence in her competence to handle herself, but he wasn't one to pull his metaphorical punches. Not even for her.
It didn't deter her from standing her ground. She didn't hink he knew how much his opinion mattered to her. They had been playing indifferent with each other for so long that she wasn't sure he could see that she needed him to believe that she could handle her family as much as she needed to believe in herself. "I can handle this," she said it meaningfully, trying to convince them both that she wasn't out of her depth.
A taste of bile rose in his throat as he was reminded of the phone call he received last night. He knew that Hanako valued her reputation as much as, if not more than, he did his, but there was nothing in the world that he thought could be worth her own safety in a place like Karuizawa. His frown twisted into a full sneer. "Yes, you've handled it so well that Morinozuka-senpai had to step in."
"I had it under control," Hana grit out, expression flashing with annoyance at his tone. She hadn't needed him to step in for her, and she had told him not to bring it up to Kyoya. It was just another example of how they constantly undermined her ability to take care of herself. "You know how he is, and that is exactly my point. You guys never let me see anything through by my self!"
She took a deep breath to regain some semblance of her poise despite the irritation she felt spilling over. "Do you trust me, Kyoya?" he knew from the way that she posed the question that she meant it in the sense of her personal responsibility. Could he trust her to manage her own affairs? Did he?
He trusted her with his life. There was nobody he trusted more, not even Tamaki, but trust could be such a silly, fickle thing. They had never tested their faith in each other, and it was always just enough that they knew they were reliable – trustworthy. There were too few people like that in their world. It was part of their understanding. He never pressed her on her personal matters, and she never inquired into his. Something had changed recently, they both knew it, but neither of them wanted to admit it. If they ever did, the butterfly would flap its wings and everything would change with it.
The harsh shadows on Kyoya's face dissipated, and he seated himself back in the high backed dining chair with a perfect appearance of composure. "Suit yourself," he said mildly. "Have the car ready in ten."
"Yes, sir," Hana answered in a cold voice that could rival his own. She turned on her heel sharply and left through the door in the kitchen. Kyoya was left alone in the kitchen, wondering how they managed to keep going in the same circles without ever managing to say anything at all.
{OR}
It was another beautiful day in Karuizawa, but the tension following Kyoya and Hanako dampened their entire car ride and the walk up to the pension. Kyoya made a point of ignoring Hana. If she wanted to be treated like a servant, he would treat her like a servant. Hana met his coldness with equal stand-offishness. What resulted was an arctic chill between the two where ever they went. They arrived on the steps of the pension, and Hana followed after Kyoya until they got to the door. She came around him wordlessly and opened the door for him. When they entered the pension, they knew that there wouldn't be any peace to their morning at all.
Not long after their arrival, Mitsukuni and Takashi joined their club members. It became clear to them quickly that plenty had already taken place by that early hour. They saw Tamaki pale and despairing while the twins watched an unfamiliar boy chatting with Haruhi. Then, a chill seeped into their bones, and they took notice of the quarreling shadow king and shadow lurking near by.
"What did we miss?" Mitsukuni asked, not sure where to start with the scene.
"Oh, an old friend of Haruhi's came by today. Come on, I'll fix you up something to eat if you haven't had breakfast yet," Misuzu herded the hosts to a table. Hanako pulled Kyoya's seat out for him and walked around to the counter top where Hikaru and Kaoru seated themselves. Her sourness from the conversation she had with Kyoya hadn't faded yet, and she much preferred the company of her brothers to her employer's at that moment.
Hana glided around the corner of the bar and leaned down to level with the twins, resting her elbows on the surface. With Hikaru sulking beside him, Kaoru took notice of Hana's unexpected choice in arrangement. He braved a glance at Kyoya before looking back at his godsister's unsmiling face. "Hey, is everything okay?" he asked with concern.
"Everything's fine," she answered tightly. Hana just wanted to move on from the nightmare she had been living the past twelve hours, and there was clearly plenty else to talk about. Kaoru looked between her and Hikaru and sighed. It would be just his luck for two of his siblings to have their attitudes acting up at the same time.
"So, he's a friend of Haruhi's from middle school?" Kyoya concluded at the table with Mitsukuni and Takashi.
"They've had zero contact since graduation, so in my opinion, they're not friends, just former classmates," Hikaru said pointedly. Hana hummed questioningly at the commentary, and Kaoru looked to his brother with surprise. It wasn't unlike Hikaru to have an attitude. In fact, all three of them had their fair share of trouble interacting with other people. However, they had grown out of that part of their lives. He and Hikaru were working on being better about that.
Hikaru slurped down the rest of his drink and swirled the ice around the empty glass, "Hey, Haruhi! Don't you think you should be working? You shouldn't be slackng off!"
"Misuzu said I could take a break!" Haruhi called back. Hikaru roughly set his glass back on the countertop with a huff. Hana picked up his glass and refilled it with a pitcher of fresh juice from the cooler.
She wasn't oblivious to the attention her godbrothers had been giving Haruhi. Hana knew all the going ons at the Host Club. She had known for some time that Haruhi's presence was changing their club. It wasn't an unwelcome change, but she wasn't sure that they were well equipped for the changes that would follow. It was difficult, understandably, for a group of young people to adjust when the ground they stood on had never been sturdy to begin with.
"What's with him?" Hikaru demanded critically. "He's trying to use the refreshing innocence approach. Someone should tell him we already had a refreshment contest."
"You're being unusually critical," Kyoya remarked.
"I'm just sayin'. It's obvious this guy has a thing for Haruhi. It's sickening to watch him try and flirt."
"Hikaru! What's wrong with you? Quit acting like a jerk!" Haruhi slammed her palms on the table angrily.
"You're being a bit harsh, don't you think?" Hana gently scolded him, sliding the glass across the counter to Hikaru. She couldn't help but feel bad for Hikaru, but she knew how selfish her godbrother could be. Truthfully, she didn't appreciate the embarrassment that he was causing their friend.
"I'm calling it as I see it," Hikaru answered moodily, ducking his head to slurp down the refill. He bit down on the straw as soon as Arai admitted to Haruhi's rejection of his confession, and Hanako surveyed all of the club members for their reactions. It was like the boy flipped a switch, and within the minute, Tamaki was inviting him to join them and relay the tale. For her part, Haruhi looked absolutely appalled by the story of her oblivious rejection. Before long, the boys had accepted Arai into their ranks, and all seemed well in the kingdom. At least, that part of the kingdom. Mitsukuni and Tamaki made every effort to get to know Arai, and Kyoya and Takashi seemed to find some common ground for the time being.
The divide was quite obvious. The twins and Hana found themselves separated from the others, or, perhaps, Hana joined the twins, who were separate from the others. They were falling back into bad habits. Kaoru couldn't quite ignore the pleasantness taking place near them, and he knew Hana wasn't doing as well as she said.
"What should we do, Hikaru? They're having a good time over there. We could join them."
"No, I'm not going to," Hikaru said childishly. "I can't believe the boss is actually hanging out with that jerk."
"A little help," he turned to his sister, hoping for some support.
Hanako looked up at the two black haired problems waiting for her at that table, and for once, she thought Hikaru might actually have the right idea. Kaoru prodded her palm insistently and slid his gaze over to Hikaru insistently, and she sighed. "I'll go if you go, Hika," she said to her godbrother, and Kaoru slumped in defeat as Hikaru gave a firm 'not gonna happen'.
"Hikaru! Kaoru!" Tamaki called over to them. "Get over here! This may be our only chance to hear what Haruhi was like in middle school!"
"Sorry, but I'm not interested!" Hikaru answered. "Man, how stupid can you guys get? Where's the fun in sitting around talking about somebody's past? I don't see the appeal. Besides, doesn't that guy realize Haruhi doesn't want anything to do with him?" Out of the corner of her eyes, Hana saw a movement. She zeroed in on the tiny brunette marching angrily in their direction, and her muscles tensed, recognizing the impending conflict.
Another hand slid into hers, and Hana looked up in surprise. Kaoru hadn't even looked at her, but he gripped her hand tightly. Confused, Hana continued to hold Kaoru's hand, and they steeled themselves against what wa coming.
"She's got plenty of friends, so she doesn't need you around, get it?"
The sound of Haruhi's slap sounded harshly in Hana's ears, and a hush fell over the room. "That's not something for you to decide, Hikaru! I'm not gonna tolerate you insulting my friends anymore! You got that?"
"But why…?" Hana felt Kaoru squeeze her hand more tightly as Hikaru's voice quivered, "Why should anyone else even matter to you?" A familiar pang of guilt echoed through the hollow in Hana's chest. That whole morning felt like going back in time. It was the same arguments, the same pettiness, the same everything that she thought they as a group had worked through. Yet, here they were, caught up in their own worlds as if nothing had changed. "I thought we were your friends! Are we or aren't we?!"
Hana watched Hikaru's back tremble before he took off running. Kaoru let go of her hand and cast a quick look back at his big sister before chasing after his brother. The young beauty was left behind the counter, watching Haruhi with predatory caramel eyes and lounging with her elbows on the counter top.
"I know that he was out of line," she said with a dangerous calm, "but if you raise a hand against one of those twins again, I'll make you regret it." Haruhi blanched quickly, remembering the elite security guard in front of her. The protective aura radiating from Hana was enough to make Haruhi feel like she had just kicked a panther's cub and had to face the mother.
It was Tamaki's gentle voice that broke the spell of fear over Haruhi. "Their world is still so small. It's such a shame."
Hana felt an invisible knife twist in her gut, and she looked back at Haruhi, whose confusion still ran so deep that she couldn't hold anything against the honor student. "Sorry," Hana apologized to Haruhi for her own harsh threat. "In a way, this whole thing is kind of my fault."
{OR}
It wasn't long after Yuudai Negida's death that his company was bought by Yoshio Ootori. Everything that was left of the Negida estate was being prepared division, including his daughter. At that time, Hana was in the process of packing what few belongings she couldn't bear to part with just before she was moved into the Ootoris' main house. Everything was gone. She was a child, too young to take care of herself let alone manage properties and businesses.
"What the hell is going on?" the doors burst open, and Hikaru and Kaoru stormed into the mansion with furious looks burning into her.
"They sold your estate, and the entirety of Spring Onion International's assets belong to Yoshio Ootori!" Kaoru shouted, almost asking what that was supposed to mean.
"Mom was on the phone with Ootori-san," Hikaru picked up, his fists shaking at his sides. "I heard her say she got the adoption papers ready, and it was up to you to decide. Why are you choosing Ootori over us?" His voice had risen to a shout, and in the empty space of the mansion, it echoed off the walls, almost like a cruel joke that threw the grave betrayal back into their faces.
Hanako didn't look surprised by anything they said, and she saw how angry it made them. She knew from the start that they wouldn't like it, and if she had told them, they would have fought her tooth and nail on it. "Please understand the position I'm in," she implored of them, not desperate but hoping that they would make the effort.
"We know," Kaoru said, thinking that they did. "We lost them, too."
Hana shook her head, and she knew from that statement alone that they didn't. There was so much more than what they thought they knew. Their entire lives were burdened with such weight, but they were still sheltered from it, like she had been, by parents who loved them and shouldered so much of that load so their children wouldn't have to. She wasn't ready to take over for a man like Yuudai Negida, who had taken the world by storm with his charisma and devotion and had joined his wife on their daughter's altar. "It's different," Hanako practically spit on the expensive marble floors. "You don't have to live with the fallout. You don't know what it's like to be left with the broken legacy that is the Black Onion."
"Then help us understand!" Hikaru shouted, unable to contain himself. "We're a family!"
"I'm an orphan!" Hanako screamed back at them. The cacophany of their voices echoed back at them, and the three of them stood silently as the weight of those words, spoken for the first time settled around them. Unshed tears came into each of their eyes, and Hanako turned back to her packing, "This has nothing to do with family. This is business."
{OR}
Hanako didn't know when her little brothers had grown up, but she got the feeling that it happened while her back was turned to them. The twins had always had fragile egos, but what she did to them tore through them and drove the twins further away from the rest of the world. It was, she had thought, for their own good. If she couldn't protect them, they had to be able to protect themselves. Her mother had gone. Her father had gone. What would happen if they were to lose her? Their mother? Their father? In the end, all she had done was hurt them and allow them to hurt themselves.
The Host Club was the opportunity she had to right that wrong, and she took it. Tamaki offered her a saving grace, and she went with it. All things considered, she was proud of the young men her brothers had become. Her love for her clubmates ran deep, but her love for the Hitachiins flowed through her very blood. She stayed with the hosts like a shadow while they said their goodbyes to Arai. When the door to the pension opened, Hana and Mitsukuni turned around.
"Hika-chan," Mitsukuni acknowledged. Hana frowned slightly, seeing Kaoru approach in his brother's clothes.
"I was outta line," Kaoru apologized in the place of his twin. "I'm sorry."
"Thanks, don't worry about it." Arai accepted the apology easily. "Well, see you soon, Fujioka. Bye, guys!" With that, the delivery boy took off on his bike. Hana watched silently from the back of the group as the others sent him off.
"So, Kaoru, tell me why you're pretending to be Hikaru," Haruhi exposed the younger twin. "Hey, what happened to that scratch on your chek?" the girl pinched Kaoru's cheek in a way that reminded him, strangely, of the punishments Hana liked to dole out to her brothers and Tamaki.
"I just covered it up with some concealer!" Kaoru admitted, holding up a small tube. He laughed nervously but sobered when Haruhi let go of his face, "I don't think Hikaru's temper is going to let up anytime soon. He's no fun when he's like this, so I've got a small favor to ask of you. How would you like to go out with me tomorrow on a date?"
Hana's brain short circuited, and she stared at Kaoru with saucers for eyes. A date? Kaoru was going to go on a date? His first date, likely. She kept close tabs on the twins, and she knew for a fact they had never been on dates. Their mom was going to absolutely die when she heard. Somewhere through her thoughts, Hanako heard Haruhi say yes to a day out on the town, and the model hadn't been able to conceal her bubbly laughter.
Kaoru's face turned an awful bright pink as his godsister slid up to his side with a mischievous smile on her face, "I'm sorry, when did you get so grown up? You're going on dates now. Last time I checked, you're not old enough to be going on dates." Her teasing followed him all the way back to the stairs of the pension. There were times, he thought, when Hanako felt more like a sister and less like a friend. This was undoubtedly one of those times.
"Alright, enough of that," he waved her down and rolled his eyes. "You were younger than I am now when you got engaged."
"An arranged marriage is not the same as dating," she said with her hands on her hips.
"Speaking of," he said, taking the opportunity, "why're you avoiding Kyoya so much today?" If Hanako noticed the uncalled for transition, she didn't say anything. Instead, her pleasant teasing faded into haughty annoyance, and with that indignant huff and her nose wrinkled up like that, Kaoru thought he could be looking at a female version of Hikaru.
"He's mad because I ran into one of the Matsuras' employees last night," she told Kaoru.
The younger Hitachiin frowned, "We all knew something like that was going to happen in Karuizawa." None of them had said anything about it, but the Matsuras were a big deal. Even without their money, they could cause trouble. He and Hikaru had been against Hana going to the town in the first place, but they figured that if Kyoya hadn't said anything, then it was probably okay. Apparently, it wasn't. "So, what'd Kyoya-senpai do to get rid of them?"
"It was Takashi," Hana corrected him simply. "Kyoya's upset that I got into trouble and didn't tell him."
"Oh." The full picture became clearer in Kaoru's mind. Hanako wasn't the only one who kept an eye on what was happening in the Host Club. Kaoru had been watching Hana, Kyoya, and Mori since the inception of their club. The three of them might not have noticed the way the tide seemed to be shifting for them, but he did. Kaoru would even say that everyone in the club noticed it, too. In a club like theirs, it was difficult for everyone to maintain their perspective. They were all too immersed in their experiences, and there were times that they had to rely on each other to know what it was they couldn't see in their own lives. It was what he was doing for Hikaru that very moment, what Kyoya was doing for Tamaki, and what Mitsukuni was doing for Takashi.
Kaoru looked over at his godsister sympathetically. She was working against herself, and he would have bet that she had been doing that for years. Maybe it was more surprising that Kyoya was working against himself, too. Being around them was like watching the same scene over and over again, waiting for the next action to finally take place. Kaoru sighed and rapped his knuckles lightly on the top of her head, "I can't tell if you're better or worse than Haruhi."
At the end of the day, Kyoya insisted on leaving the pension with Hanako. Whatever cordiality they managed throuh the day evaporated as soon as they were back in the car. Kyoya continued to seethe with his displeasure, and Hanako stubbornly adhered to her role as his guard. The next day wasn't much better. They started their morning in a silence that was, for the first time in ages, incredibly awkward. The fluidity of their routine froze in a flash, and they were stranded on thin ice, unable to make any moves without worsening the trouble they were in.
Kyoya was so upset with Hanako that he didn't even say anything when the group decided to meet at a local café to follow Haruhi's date. Likewise, Hana pressed on with her determination to stay in Karuizawa. Tachibana dropped them off at a coffee shop across the street from the Karuizawa Food Gallery, and it was no surprise to him when Hanako pointedly passed their young master to yank the wooden door open. Nor was it unexpected when Kyoya muttered a sharp-tongued remark under his breath.
The deputy commander of the Black Onion sighed, "Teenagers." The sleek black car drove away, and the handsome pair joined the rest of their club mates at a table inside.
Hanako quickly surveyed their surroundings, counting every body in view and taking extra care to count the comings and goings of the servers through the plastic doors. She had already distastefully acknowledged the wall of large display windows on the street facing wall, and, as she waved back at Mitsukuni, she took care to stand on Kyoya's right and match his pace.
"Go get us some drinks, Hana," Kyoya dismissed her in a cool voice, his regal dispassion revealing that he recognized exactly what she was doing.
"Something sweet, sir?" she returned in a syrupy voice that made his scowl etch deeper onto his face. The young woman turned on her heel and strutted away before he could get another word in.
Kaoru let out a low whistle as Kyoya joined the other young men at the table, "You're in deep, huh?"
"Would you kindly shut up?" the club's mastermind pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. "Your sister is the most infuriating woman on this planet." He was getting exhausted of this squabble between them, but there was no way in hell that he would let her win after what happened. She had endangered herself beyond any kind of ridiculousness the rest of them had ever pulled, and he certainly didn't have any clever lessons for her like he had rashly employed for Haruhi. Instead, they were trapped in a childish game of cold shoulder.
Hanako had no qualms paying for the round of drinks with Kyoya's personal allowance. She knew fully well how immature she was being, but, frankly, that was what it had come to. He wanted to be cold? She could be colder. He thought that she didn't know what she was doing? She'd prove him wrong. His outburst about the Matsuras had been the cherry on a sundae of underestimation and vanity. Hanako Negida did not need a man to tell her where she could and could not go, what lines she could and could not cross, or how she should and should not act. She didn't need Kyoya Ootori deciding her safety for her. She certainly didn't need Kyoya Ootori berating her for doing her job. A job committed to his well-being, by the way.
It wasn't that Hana thought she was above a sense of self-preservation. She had her fair share of fears and limitations, and she knew that. She wasn't going to be walking across any stages or doing any interviews any time soon. As young as she was, Hanako was starting to understand one of those many lessons her parents left her with over the years. There are some things, some people, who are worth going above and beyond for. The ones who are worth leaving everything behind for. The ones worth starting over for. The ones who a person has to face their fears for.
"Number four?"
Hana looked at the round table where the boys had congregated before waving her receipt at the barista, "Over here."
She brought a full tray with tea and sweets back to the table just as Hikaru and Haruhi met up outside. Haruhi's girlish appearance came as a surprise to everyone. Especially Tamaki, who wailed and reached out towards the window in despair. Hana swiftly stepped around Kaoru when he leapt up to restrain Tamaki, handing Mitsukuni his soft serve cone without missing a single beat.
"Be careful, Boss! They'll see us!" Kaoru wrapped his arms around the taller boy and dug his feet into the floor.
"Why did Hikaru and Haruhi end up on a date anyway?" Tamaki rounded on Kaoru and shook him by the neck of his sweatshirt. "I don't understand!"
"Tamaki, manners!" Hana chided with her arms crossed as the blond continued to throttle her best friend. She sighed and brought the tray back to the counter, effectively ignored by her former classmate who was to enraged to pay attention to her.
"You know, this might be Haru-chan's first date," Mitsukuni was saying when Hana came back to join the hosts.
Tamaki squealed furiously and pointed through the window, "You're gonna pay for this! And look at what she's wearing!"
Hanako receded into the background as Tamaki pointed out how cute Haruhi's outfit was. While this instance certainly wasn't the first time the Host Club dragged Hana along to intrude on Haruhi's life, it may have been the first time that she took the opportunity to really think about her friends' interests in the younger girl.
Hana liked Haruhi. She was strong-willed, well-spoken, driven, and generally pleasant company. In fact, she was exactly the kind of person who Hana hoped Ageha would grow up to be like. There were times, though, when she was reminded of how novel the idea of Haruhi was to all of them. Not just a commoner. A girl – a person – who was genuine and honest, and she may have even been the first stranger who they really welcomed into their lives like this since… well, since Tamaki.
She watched Hikaru and Haruhi walk out of sight, and then her gaze slid over the group of her friends. Kaoru shamelessly began explaining to a distraught Tamaki why Haruhi was done up for the day. The other boys turned more fully to face the mischievous first year. Hana couldn't help but admit to herself that she was a little bit jealous.
There was no harm in that. As much as she adored Haruhi, that didn't change the fact that everything happening was new and strange. She had spent her life with these boys. She knew every dream they had ever cherished, and it was odd that she now shared her beloved friends with someone else – someone who they wouldn't just see as a sister and a dear friend. It was strange. Once a person has risen out of the fiery, hopeless depths of hell, they could become so content with purgatory that they never strive for heaven.
The Host Club built their kingdom in purgatory, and for two years, they were satisfied. It was enough that they found each other and could exist within the same walls. They didn't need to push their luck. Friendship, acceptance, and solace were enough. They never flew too close to the sun. What would become of their little kingdom if they reached their hands towards the sky and asked for a piece of paradise?
Haruhi changed that, and the signs had been there since the first day she joined them. Some god had opened the gates of heaven and sent them an angel, and Hana got the feeling that purgatory wouldn't be enough for them anymore.
"I dunno, boss," Kaoru said in a thick voice when Tamaki's tantrum spilled out into the street. "It's hard for you to understand but it would be good for Hikaru to find other people he can feel close to." Hana took in the sight of Kaoru's soft amber eyes following after his brother's back, and she felt her throat tighten.
"The only people we've been able to depend on are ourselves. We didn't care what anyone else thought about us. That's probably how we ended up so self-centered."
A knot twisted itself in Hana's esophagus as the heavy chains of guilt weighed on her at Kaoru's admission. No matter how many times she tried to look past it, she couldn't deny that the past few years had aged her godbrothers just as much as they had her. It was so easy to miss, to ignore, in the way Hikaru and Kaoru always wore their cheeky grins and bright eyes.
"So you're admitting it?" Tamaki's dry question barely registered with Hana. She was too gripped by guilt at the sad expression on Kaoru's face.
"I guess you could say Hikaru's immature. He lets his emotions take over. See, I'm not sure he's even aware of it. I always got along better with Hana than Hikaru did, and I guess I learned how to express myself better. But I can tell that he cares about Haruhi. He just doesn't know how to react so his emotions run wild. He's selfish and wants all of her attention."
Hana looked down at the pointed toe of her suede shoes. Kaoru knew Hikaru better than anyone, and she knew that he loved her just as much as he loved his brother. The circumstances couldn't have been more different, but everything he said seemed to remind her of how badly she let them down. Her selfishness far exceeded theirs. There was nothing they could do that was worse than how she abandoned them.
"He wants to be acknowledged by her, but doesn't know how to make that happen. If you want true friends, friends who aren't only your toys, you have to learn to respect them. No matter how hard it is to accept their decisions or feelings. That's the only way you can have a meaningful relationship. And I think it's about time that Hikaru learned that lesson himself."
His godsister wasn't thrown off by his abrupt change of attitude. It was easy for her to see the evidence of how deeply she hurt Hikaru back then, but the impact she left on Kaoru was one that she knew he'd never grow out of. She knew that in her absence he had needed to mature for the sake of both twins. He had always been more level headed than Hikaru, less provocative, but his maturity came from a place of desperation. She forced them to grow up because she had thought that they had to be able to rely on themselves, but she had no idea at the time what that imposition would do to them. She'd never be able to give Kaoru back those years of childhood naïveté that he spent analyzing people in search of an answer to the question, 'why did she leave us behind?'.
"So in other words, this date is basically a test to see if Hikaru can handle being thoughtful towards others, right?" Kyoya questioned.
"Just promise me you won't interfere with them, okay?"
"Fine but then why are you making us follow them?"
"Because, there's no reason we should miss out on watching something this interesting," Kaoru answered, crouching behind a nearby tree. The air pressure changed, heavy with water in the atmosphere like Hana's heart was heavy with the thoughts lingering from Kaoru's speech. Was it really fair for her to be back in their lives after what she put them through? What right did she have?
The street wasn't so crowded that Hanako couldn't see every person enjoying the beautiful day in town. She had developed a system to multitask. Look right, look left, look at the ground, look forward, look right, look left, accept the shame of failing her brothers, look forward, and so on. As always, they traveled in a compact group with Hanako trailing behind them ever so slightly. Kaoru led the way for them, and Kyoya seemed quite comfortable sticking to the front of the group. Tamaki was too concerned with Haruhi's date to think about anything else. Mitsukuni walked beside Takashi, but every few steps he would glance over his shoulder. Eventually, the intuitive host slowed his pace and fell into step beside Hana.
"You look sad today," he observed in a plain voice.
She smiled faintly, "I wasn't able to sleep well, Mitsukuni, that's all." It even sounded like a lie to her ears.
Her feeble attempt to ease his concern failed miserably, and the older student made it clear that he wasn't accepting any excuses from her. "Takashi told me about the other night. Kyo-chan looks more tired today, too, but you look sad."
It wasn't unlike Mitsukuni to notice subtle changes in his friends. The boy lolita had always been intuitive about other people's feelings. It was, Hana believed, why he spent so long trying to live up to his father's expectations of masculinity. The fear of facing that kind of disappointment from his father outweighed his own need to express himself until Tamaki came into the picture.
"I'm surprised," she said with a more sincere smile. "You're not going to try to cheer me up? This is the part where you usually try to lighten the mood."
Despite his usual aloof glee, Mitsukuni functioned as a buffer for the club. Cute, sure. A little selfish? Undoubtedly. Could he break down a wall with his bare hands? Yes. Nevertheless, he was a peacekeeper at his core. He understood his friends easily, and he never missed anything. Not only that, he knew as well as Hana did that they spent far too long settling for less than the heaven they deserved.
"It's too serious for me to act like this isn't important," Mitsukuni's astute response seemed no less natural than his usual cuteness. "I know you're thinking about Hikaru and Kaoru. You're too hard on yourself, you know."
"Don't let me off easy. It's my fault that they're like this. I should have let them make more friends when we were kids, and I shouldn't have just left them on their own the way that I did." There weren't words to describe how disappointed she was in herself. She let them down in a way a big sister was never supposed to fail her siblings. It was never intentional on her part. It had been an extreme response, but it only followed an extreme incident. She was always there, but nobody ever tried hard enough. Nobody ever put in the effort to get past her, and nobody deserved them.
Mitsukuni frowned sympathetically with her. It was hard not to take the blame as an older sibling. He thought for a moment about his own younger brother who wanted nothing to do with him. It's impossible not to be selfish when the options are sacrificing a part of your self and being the person your loved ones need you to be. He could only imagine how much more difficult that choice had been for Hana when she pushed them all away to focus on her work.
"It's true that you were kept a lot of other people away from them," he acknowledged. In every memory of the twins from their childhood, Mitsukuni couldn't think of a time when Hanako wasn't standing between the twins and the rest of the world. "I know you were just worried about them. You were like a wall that kept other people away from them, but you kept them safe from a lot of bad people, too. You've always been like that, Hana-chan. You could never stand seeing people get hurt."
He looked at her then and took in her full appearance. Before she worked for Kyoya, Mitsukuni had only ever seen Hanako in pretty things. She was tasteful and girlish, and she favored lilacs and ribbon. Her hair was always free. Her movements always graceful. She hadn't lost any of that grace, but she was far more rigid in her uniform coal colored suit and crisp collared shirt than she ever was in the flowing skirts of her childhood.
"You don't have to just be one thing, Hana," he said to her in all seriousness, starting to feel a little bit sad himself. "It's not always so black and white."
"It is for me." She appreciated him far more than he would ever know, but the world didn't change just because they wished it would. She could change her outlook as much as she wanted, but her place was set in stone. There was only one way that it would ever truly change.
They stopped walking when Tamaki flew into another fit of rage at Hikaru's poor dating skills. "This is the lamest excuse for a date I've ever seen! I should switch with Hikaru! I'll show her a good time!"
"That would ruin everything!"
"Get out there Kyoya!" Tamaki turned to his right hand man, "Go pick a fight with Haruhi so Hikaru will have to rescue her!"
"Where do you dream this stuff up?" Kyoya declined, unimpressed with Tamaki's imagination.
Undeterred, the blond whipped around to Hana. "Hana! Do something! Try to steal her purse!"
"Absolutely not," Kyoya answered sternly before the girl was able to say anything.
"I can speak for myself," she snapped at her employer as Mitsukuni pulled an ice cream cart across the road. They glared at each other with such intensity that violet and gold sparks could have flown between them. Between the heavy emotions throughout the day and the stress of the hosts' behavior, the two typically cool headed club members were ready for a fight. If they were going to have one, that wouldn't be the time. Coincidentally, Takashi barrelled between them so quickly that he kicked up a cloud of dust before scooping up his cousin.
The distance that he put between Hana and Kyoya was just enough to diffuse the tension between them for the moment. Hanako went through the motions after that and followed Kaoru and Tamaki into an ice cream stand. After almost two full days in Karuizawa, she was losing the energy to keep up with the rest of them. She didn't even try to stop Tamaki when he decided to disrupt a local business.
" What do you think you're doing?" Kaoru demanded of Tamaki while shaking him in a reversal of roles.
"Please, excuse them," Hanako said to the salesman, rubbing circles into her temples. "I think we left our manners at the pension. Kaoru, pay this nice man back for the trouble."
Kaoru immediately let go of Tamaki at the sound of her exasperation and sheepishly scratched the back of his head when he straightened. "Sorry about that," he apologized with a silly smile, handing the man a few bills. "We're helping my brother out on a date."
The Host Club followed Haruhi and Hikaru down the road for a little bit longer. The flow of the date seemed to improve as the date went on. It was sweet how Hikaru opened up to Haruhi from shop to shop, and Hana couldn't deny the small warmth in her chest when she saw how at ease he seemed to be.
"We take our eyes off of them for a second and suddenly everything's great!" Kaoru exclaimed.
"That's true but I get the feeling Haruhi's the one in charge here."
"It looked like the ice cream stand helped smooth things over."
"I doubt it."
"We should get going. If we get caught, it's going to ruin everything. And anyway, I don't think the boss can handle much more of this," Kaoru decided as they all looked upon Tamaki sticking to a lamp post. Hana watched Hikaru and Haruhi's backs for a moment longer while the others tried to pry Tamaki from the post.
"I could stay in town and keep an eye on them," she offered off-handedly.
Kyoya looked at her sharply, standing with his arms crossed next to her. "Come back to the pension with us, Hana. You are my body guard, after all." He was just trying to get a rise out of her with his bossiness, but that knowledge didn't ease her annoyance. When she turned to follow after the procession carrying Tamaki, Hana flipped her hair over her shoulder with such force that the ends of her hair slapped Kyoya's arm sharply. He hissed at the stinging and shook his head, rejoining the others as they made their way back to the pension.
{OR}
The Ouran students returned at the pension and made themselves comfortable in the dining room. Business had slowed down over the past day and a half for Misuzu, but the innkeeper was making quite a comfortable profit from the Host Club frequenting the establishment so often. When they arrived, Hana went straight back to the counter where she had been helping Misuzu since the start of their trip. She wasn't sure if it was the growing humidity in the air or her disagreement with Kyoya, but being near them felt stuffy. She caught Kyoya regarding her from the table he was sharing with the hosts, but he looked away and responded to something Tamaki had said.
She sat down on one of the stools at the counter and stretched her arms over her head before relaxing on the padded seat. She always forgot how good it felt to sit down at the end of a long period of being on her feet. While Hana made herself comfortable at the bar, Mitsukuni snagged his favorite pink rabbit from the front desk where he Misuzu had been Usa-chan sitting during their excursion. The short blond pranced into the dining room and made an energetic beeline for Hanako. She looked over to him and was hit by the radiant cuteness characteristic of the martial arts master. Behind him, Takashi stood stonefaced with his large hand trapped in Mitsukuni's smaller one. Clearly, he had no escape.
Honey dropped Usa-chan in Hana's lap and giggled, "Takashi, make sure Usa-chan doesn't need another bath, kay?" Without another word, he skipped away and joined the other three hosts. Hana ran her fingertips along one of Usa-chan's plush ears and cast an unamused look in Mitsukuni's direction.
"He's not very subtle," she remarked dryly. Takashi sounded his agreement and shoved a hand into his stylishly unkept black hair, clearly frustrated with Mitsukuni's methods. He hadn't wanted to get involved after he called Kyoya the other night, and he was hoping that he wouldn't have to talk with her about it. He was expecting her to be furious with him, and he didn't want to be on the receiving end of her rage. When she looked at him, though, there weren't any signs of the betrayal and hate for him that he had anticipated. She looked curious and a little bit disappointed, and somehow, that was just as bad as any anger she could have held.
"Why did you tell Kyoya about the Matsura employee?" she asked without any pretenses. It wasn't like Takashi to go against an outright request of him. She had been wondering what could have compelled him to bring the incident up to Kyoya after she expressly told him not to. She was beyond the point of holding out for that tiny glimmer of hope that she used to feel when he looked at her. Hanako wasn't looking for any particular answer when she asked. She just wanted to know what motivated him to do it.
"I was worried about you." Takashi's expression shifted slightly. The differences between his blank visage and his serious one were barely noticeable, but she didn't have to look hard to find them. The slightest knot in his brow, an impossibly slight frown, and just the faintest spark of emotion in his stormcloud eyes. Not so long ago, those words would have been exactly what she wanted to hear.
"I don't need either of you to worry about me," she pointed out. It was at a time like this that she wished Haruhi was there with her, or Renge, or Chizuru. Kyoya and Takashi did her wrong in the exact same way, but it felt like neither of them knew how their worrying for her caused so much offense. Clearly they trusted her more than Haruhi not to embarrass them at club functions. They obviously trusted her with their safety. Yet, despite all of that, they couldn't seem to trust her to make her own decisions regarding her personal life. "It wasn't your right to tell him. He's not my keeper."
She cast her eyes back to the table, and Takashi followed her gaze to the dark haired boy who was watching them from afar. It was hard to believe that Kyoya hadn't wanted anything to do with Hanako three years ago. When the Negidas fell, Kyoya was one of the first to withdraw his association with Hana. Now, here they were. Takashi felt a twinge of regret, having a conversation with the girl he once intended to marry about the man who never took his eyes off her.
He sighed heavily, and she redirected her attention to him. Try as he might, Takashi wasn't able to look away from her, either. Hanako's thick eyelashes deepened the intensity of her caramel gaze as she regarded him, waiting for him to say something. She didn't have much patience left in her reservoir, and if she had to break it down for him, there was a good chance that she'd lose her composure.
"You're right," Takashi acknowledged. An apology started on the tip of his tongue, but before he could tell her properly, Kyoya joined them.
The Shadow King's dissatisfied presence put an end to the conversation, and Takashi put on a bland face as Kyoya addressed his guard. "Hana, could you please get me something to drink? If you're not too busy." Kyoya's attention slid to the man standing beside her, and she shook her head.
"I'm not." The model passed Mitsukuni's pink rabbit to his cousin, and he found himself wishing that her fingers had brushed his when she let go. Hana disappeared into the kitchen, leaving Kyoya and Takashi alone at the counter.
It wasn't rare for the two of them to enjoy moments of solace together within the club. In fact, they got along quite well, as long as they followed the unspoken rules that were set out at the start. Kyoya regarded Takashi coldly, unafraid to look his senpai in the eye. Takashi met Kyoya's scorn with nothing more than a guarded acknowledgement. He had no stake in whatever Kyoya's issue was. It wasn't Takashi's fault if those two hadn't figured themselves out. As soon as Takashi registered Kyoya's countenance, it changed.
"Mori-senpai," Kyoya said to his club mate, "it's no longer your place to stand beside her. A friendly reminder. In case you had forgotten." Takashi's frown deepened imperceptibly, but he held Kyoya's observant gaze unwaveringly. He had wondered about this younger man since the day that Hana told him about the deal she struck with Yoshio Ootori. It wasn't until Tamaki started the Host Club that Takashi had the opportunity to get to know Kyoya, and to his surprise and confusion, Takashi didn't dislike him. He respected Kyoya, like all of them did, but there was always a part of him that saw Kyoya as his rival. Without another word, Takashi turned and found his way back to Mitsukuni.
When Hana emerged from the kitchen, the storm that had been building finally appeared outside. She set a silver tray out on the counter and placed the kettle beside it. The other club members had gathered at the window, and Tamaki was wearing circles into the floor.
"Tamaki dear, please try to settle down," Misuzu encouraged.
"I should go and look for them, huh?" Tamaki asked just before the landline rang out. Hana and Tamaki watched Misuzu pick up and take the call.
"Hello! This is Pension Misuzu. Oh, it's you Arai. What is it? What? Haruhi and Hikaru?" Hana folded her arms and twisted her body to fully face the drag artist. An unbidden thought crossed her mind, and the image of Hikaru and Haruhi forced into an unmarked car flashed behind her eyelids. "Hm. Hmm. Thank you. Hikaru should have his cell with him, so I'll try giving him a call. G'bye now."
Misuzu put the phone back on the receiver and turned to Tamaki, who was now joined by Kaoru and Mitsukuni. "Evidently, Hikaru left Haruhi in front of the produce shop and decided he'd head back on his own."
Kaoru and Tamaki gasped, an Hana melted at the sadness painting Kaoru's features. "Arai said Haruhi took off after Hikaru," Misuzu continued, "and that's when it started pouring. He was worried so he called to make sure they made it home okay."
Without hesitation, Tamaki pulled out his phone, and within the next minute, he had Hikaru on the line. "You idiot!" Tamaki snapped as soon as he got the opportunity. His violet eyes burned passionately as his concern and outrage flooded him. "I want you to turn around and start looking for Haruhi right now! What kind of jerk would leave a girl out in a thunderstorm like this by herself? Now you listen to me, Haruhi is terrified of thunder! Whenever she hears it she gets so scared she can't even move! Why don't you spend less time concentrating on your jealousy and worry about someone else for once!"
Their president snapped the phone shut, and his hand fell limply to his side. Nobody moved or spoke, unsure of what to do next while he was still in such an impassioned state. "I'm going to go look for Haruhi," Tamaki declared in a low voice.
"It's not safe for you to go out in this weather," Hana objected calmly, stepping away from the counter. "I'll go instead. I have people in Karuizawa. We'll find them." The hosts all looked at her. She had shed any appearance of leisure. Her eyes were hard, and her mouth was set in a firm line. Hana was back on the job, and she had just used up whatever patience she had left to play along with their game of house.
"No," Kyoya spoke up imperiously. "If it's too dangerous for Tamaki, then you shouldn't be going either."
"It's not the same and you know it," she shot back without missing a beat. They hadn't raised their voices or even spoken out of turn, but it was beginning to feel as if it was just as volatile indoors as it ws outside. "Somebody should go and my resources will find them sooner than anyone else on foot."
Kyoya's glasses flashed in the light but his voice never even caught as he countered, "Despite all of the commotion, it is just rain. They can easily find shelter in a town like Karuizawa."
"And what if they don't?" Hana snapped. Karuizawa was only ever as safe as they let themselves believe it was. She wasn't going to allow them to go there without her, and she sure as hell wasn't going to leave Hikaru and Haruhi out there if there was any chance at all that they could be hurt or lost. "I'll feel better doing something instead of worrying about them all night."
"Go," Tamaki's voice cut in before Kyoya even had the chance to say anything else. "Call us as soon as you find them."
She didn't waste another second. Hana ran past Tamaki and into the rain. The warm drops of summer rain pelted her, soaking her through her suit, and her shoes sank into the mud as she ran towards town. With one hand, she pushed back long strands of wet hair away from her face, and with the other, she dug her cell phone out of her pocket. Honda answered on the second ring, and they enlisted every contact in Karuizawa to search for Hikaru and Haruhi.
She stopped people as she passed them, called out their names as she passed alleys and parks. Her entire body was heavy with exhaustion, and her socks started to squish inside her shoes with every step she took. The thunder boomed with such gusto that the earth seemed to move, and Hana only thought about where Hauhi could be and ran faster through Karuizawa. The possibility of any harm coming to herself didn't even cross her mind. Her phone started to buzz in her pocket as she passed a café full of people escaping the storm.
"Hanako," she answered promptly. One of her men had found a shopkeeper who saw Haruhi running off towards the church and witnessed Hikaru heading in the same direction not too long ago. "Thanks," she breathed out, before changing her direction. She knew that there were only two churches in the area, and the one closest to Arai's produce stand was the most likely place for Haruhi to find shelter in the storm.
Hana ran until the pavement turned to muck and kept going to the place where she knew she would find the first year hosts. By the time she got there, the downpour had slowed, but the sky was still a dark gray. The chapel was simple and secluded, and it looked ominous against the gloomy background. Hana threw one of the doors open, not caring about how her clothes dripped onto the carpet or how the mud left prints from her shoes. "Hikaru? Haruhi?" she called out to them, passing the pews and searching in the rows for any sign of her friends. "Hikaru?"
"Behind the altar." Relief flooded her as he answered her. Hana walked briskly up the steps and turned at the bare marble table. A slow smile came to her face when she saw how Haruhi was bundled in white, resting her head on Hikaru's shoulder and wearing his headphones over her ears. Hikaru lifted his head slowly, and when his eyes met hers, she could tell that the dried spots on his cheeks weren't from the rain. "There's a car coming from the house to pick us up." She looked like a wet cat, dirty and on the verge of collapse, but there was nothing in the world that could have warmed him like the relief shining in her caramel gaze.
"Thanks," he croaked. The emotions that had flooded him when he found Haruhi filled him again. He didn't know how she did it. He hadn't been kind to her. He spent every day of the last two years punishing her for a decision that she didn't have any real control over. Kaoru had been right about everything. His eyes burned with more tears that he was determined not to shed. "Thanks for being here, Hana."
"There's nowhere I'd rather be," she said gently, lowering herself to a crouch and ruffling the hair at the top of his head.
{OR}
The next day, Kaoru and Kyoya watched from the indoor balcony as Hikaru accepted Arai's peace offering. Hikaru, Haruhi, and Hanako came back right after the storm finally broke the previous night. Kaoru hadn't asked Hikaru what happened, but by the next morning it was clear that the experience finally got his lesson through to his twin. It seemed like everything was back to normal at that point. Even Hana's split second exit into the storm seemed to impart some clarity to Kyoya, and he was much less hostile than he had been for the past couple of days.
"By the way," the older student started, "a question about your strategy. Did you ever consider the possibility the date might go too well and those two might fall in love?"
Kaoru thought on it and looked back down to where Hikaru and the others were bonding with Arai. "Nah, it's still too soon for that. Hikaru's kind of a dummy." His brother hoisted the melon up proudly as Tamaki called them down to join.
"Well, then he's lucky because our club's full of dummies," Kyoya commented. Kaoru snuck a look back at Kyoya. He hadn't been so wrapped up in getting Hikaru's date with Haruhi to work out that he didn't see what was happening between Kyoya and Hana. It was nothing Kaoru hadn't seen coming for a while now, but Kyoya was right. They were all a little bit stunted in their own ways.
"On that note," Kaoru mused, turning fully to face his godsister's young employer, "when are you gonna take my big sis out on a proper date?" Hikaru hadn't been the only one jealous during their little vacation. He might not have reacted as temperamentally as Hikaru, but it was clear that Kyoya wasn't just upset about the Matsuras finding Hana.
"I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about," Kyoya dismissed the notion easily.
Kaoru rolled his eyes. He didn't know what he was expecting. It was the same old song and dance with those two. It really was just a matter of time before they finally lost whatever handle they had on whatever it was between them. Kaoru didn't necessarily understand everything about Hana's relationships with Kyoya and Takashi, but he knew that he didn't want to see her get hurt again. For now, this was enough for her, and it seemed to be enough for Kyoya. He had to respect that.
"Whatever. Hey, you know that she's right about how we've been treating her, right?" he asked, switching gears while they had the chance to talk. It felt like an echo of the chat they had before the ball at the beginning of the spring term. Except, this time, Kaoru had to remind Kyoya that Hanako knew what she was doing. "She's not like us anymore, but she's not like Haruhi, either. We can't keep treating her like a princess when she still sees herself as a guard."
"Denying it doesn't make it any less true," Kyoya replied.
How ironic, Kaoru thought to himself dryly, but the ship had sailed on that conversation and they had moved on to this one. Kaoru leaned on the railing again and looked over at his friend, "It's not fair to ask her to be something when she isn't ready for that role yet."
There were times when they pushed the envelope, and there were people they felt comfortable forcing out of their comfort zones. Hana could never be one of those people. It had been a group effort just to get her back into their lives, and they weren't about to risk losing her again by doing something stupid. Just then, the door to the pension opened again, and Hana stepped inside. She was wearing a different suit and shoes, looking far better than she had the previous night.
"Kyoya, the car's here," she called up to him, waving to Kaoru when she saw him.
The auburn haired Hitachiin boy waved back to her and asked Kyoya, "Where are you going?"
He was already starting to go down the stairs, hands in his pockets casually, when he answered, "We're heading back early. I think we've had enough of Karuizawa for the time being. It's time to go home."
Kaoru was sure that they had no idea how they looked anymore, but when Kyoya approached, a beautiful smile spread across Hana's face. The Shadow King couldn't have looked displeased even if he tried. It couldn't have been any more obvious, and there was no way that they didn't know, even if they kept denying it. They must have felt how their kingdom's foundation was changing. Kyoya and Hanako… they had to know that they couldn't last like this forever.
{OR}
A/N: I know it's long, and there's a lot. Let me know if it makes sense or if you have any questions that I can clarify! I know that there isn't a clear resolution to Hana's fight with Kyoya, and the next chapter will primarily be the two of them.
How do you think Hana and Kyoya feel about each other? What do you think is going on with them?
Thanks to everyone supporting this story! And special thanks to purplekittycatofthemoon, Saphire12985, KitCathy, xmichikox, TheMaximumExperience, Anon, and WizardKate for reviewing the last chapter and the special.
I decided to leave the special chapter up, but I'm removing the long author note on it. Thanks for reading, guys! Honestly, your reviews are one of the things I look forward to every day when I wake up, and I literally read them over and over again throughout the week. Thank you so much. You have no idea how much I appreciate you guys.
Next time: A sick day... Running into the rain has its consequences.