Author's Notes: Sorry to have made you wait so long; ff upload system has been giving me trouble. On a side note, this section was complete long before the latest terrorist plots, and thus reflects no social commentary of the author's. A final thanks to all those who have read and reviewed this story, an epilogue may follow, as I've run out of encounters to use.
x.
Renge watched the planes as they landed and took to the air from her seat by the window in the first class lounge. In her lap was the straw hat she had worn when she came to Japan and to her side was her woven parasol. Even through the thick, tinted glass she was able to see what a brilliant day it was, bright sun and blue skies as far as the eye could see. It just happened that the most beautiful day in weeks would be the day she leaves, as if Heaven above were celebrating the correctness of her decision… or mocking it.
"You look as though you've forgotten something important."
The middle-aged lady who was dressed like a Parisian smiled at her from across the table, a smile Renge returned, though it was not a smile that reached her eyes, and replied in French just as fluent. "No, I knew what I was leaving behind."
And when the voice over the speaker announced that they would soon begin boarding first class for the flight bound for Charles de Gaulle International, Renge retrieved her things and walked away, resisting the temptation to turn around and scan the crowd one last time for the face she knew wouldn't be there.
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"Can't you make this thing go any faster?" yelled Tamaki over the deafening noise of the propeller overhead.
"I told you sir, this is a civilian aircraft, not an attack helicopter! And besides…" The pilot jerked his thumb back out towards the cabinet, where in addition to the seven other host club members there were no less than two dozen squirming girls who had squeezed themselves into the VIP configured layout. "With this many people, we're definitely pushing the weight limit!"
"Hey Tono!" Tamaki turned around to see Hikaru tapping on his shoulder. "If we open this door right here, we can throw some people out and lose some weight!"
"We'll be flying over a lake soon. I think it'll be okay!" yelled Kaoru, who had his hands on the handle bar.
Tamaki was not amused. "That's a wonderful idea, maybe you can help us all by throwing yourselves out!"
And that moment the King felt his cell phone begin to vibrate, which he withdrew and pressed to his face. "What? Oh hello father! What? Yes… I was the one who borrowed the school helicopter … What? Of course it's an emergency… What was that? You'll have to speak up a little… Yes, yes I'll return it! But next time, buy a faster one for goodness sake, like an Apache or whatever they're called! What now, you're unhappy? Hello? I can't hear you father, you're breaking up! I'll talk to you later, tootles!"
Haruhi could not but help but become even more worried after overhearing the entire conversation which, in spite of the noise, she caught every word of, as Tamaki had been yelling into the phone while standing but a foot away from her.
"Don't worry." said Kyouya, who was seated next to her in the front row seat, a black briefcase in his lap. "In a sense it is his family's helicopter anyways, plus he's gotten away with far greater… mischief than this."
Mischief, he says. And Haruhi didn't want to know what other, greater "mischief" Tamaki had under his record, though she had experienced first hand what he was capable of. "There's less than ten minutes until Renge's flight time… we're not going to make it!"
"Oh we're going to make it." And Kyouya's trademark smile was so perfect that Haruhi experienced heartfelt pity for whoever might be on the receiving end of it.
-----
"… We apologize for the short delay due to the late arrival of the foie gras and champagne, and once again thank you for your patience. This flight, destined for Paris, France, will be taking off shortly… flight attendants to your stations."
Renge shut the blinds on her window, the scenery outside so bright that it hurt her eyes to look at them. She wanted nothing more than to drink her cup of apricot juice and sleep the entire trip, because it didn't hurt as much when she was asleep. So as the sound of the engines up grew louder and the plane began to move forward, she closed her eyes and curled up in her lie-down seat, and thought of obligatory chocolates, shy blue eyes, and fireflies.
But her reminiscence was disrupted when the plane came suddenly to a stop and the engines died down, and it was even more annoying when the intercom came to life again with another captain's announcement, no doubt over forgotten caviar, or truffles, or cheese.
"Ladies and gentlemen we've come to a temporary halt because a large helicopter has landed in front us and is blocking the runway. We're working with control tower to sort things out at the moment, so please bear with us…"
Her brows furrowed. What was with air travel these days? Supremely annoyed, she considered chartering a private jet the next time she had to travel… until she heard the sound of vehicles arriving and the dull sounds of impact coming from outside.
So she sat up and opened the blinds, and she couldn't believe her eyes, because the tall figure seated at the wheel of an airport passenger-boarding-step-mobile couldn't be Mori-sempai, and that little blonde blur that whirled around flooring what looked like airport security couldn't possibly be Honey-sempai.
"Renge! Renge!"
… And the handsome, panic-faced young man who just came through the door calling her name couldn't have been the one she secretly wished to see just one last time. She placed her hands over her mouth, as if the very utterance of his name would make everything vanish and wake her from this dream.
"Nekozawa-sempai…?"
Though it was little more than a whisper, he heard her, and then he saw her, and the cabinet grew quiet as the rest of the host club and the Ouran girls crowded in behind him.
"Renge-san, I…" He was sweating, and Renge held her breath. "I… I… you… I lu… I…"
Somewhere in the background, the sound of a flight safety pamphlet hitting the ground was heard, and the third year's fidgeting ended. "I… I've got a lot of things to say to you!"
As everyone looked on in stunned silence, Nekozawa produced the Beelzenef puppet, holding it up as he continued. "See this? You thought I'd gotten rid of it, yes? Well the truth is I've kept it around behind your back, and every now and then I still sleep with it under my pillow!"
Now this was too much for Renge's mind to process; surely this was not how the romantic grand finale was supposed to go. He was confessing all right, but about his lingering bad habits instead of the secret love he's harbored for her all this time.
That is why you're here… right?
"And that's not all! You forbade me to, but at home I still use candlelight half the time, and I sneak back to those books you said I couldn't read anymore, which if I did you said you would… you would drag me to a tanning saloon and lock me up in one of those… artificial sunbathing coffins for an hour!"
By this time, it was becoming apparent that the beads of sweat appearing on Nekozawa's forehead couldn't have been from just running up the stairs, plus he was beginning to turn pale too. "So you see? I'm still… no good after all, that's… that's why you can't leave, because I… need you. Without you I… my whole reason for becoming a host in the first place…"
He didn't finish the sentence, because at that point Umehito Nekozawa had collapsed into an unseemly pile on the floor.
"... It would seem that running outside in broad daylight is still too much for him." Kyouya commented a moment later as he pushed the bridge of his glasses up his nose.
"What with the tarmac reflecting the white-hot sunrays…" piped Hikaru.
"It must've been like jogging through the fifth circle of hell." finished Kaoru.
"… I'll get the stretcher from the helicopter." said Mori as he walked out.
Tamaki shook his head and sighed deeply. "To think, after all the trouble we went to preparing this grand stage for him..."
"Well…" Haruhi smiled. "I think it was worth it."
The King followed Haruhi's gaze and saw that Renge had Nekozawa lie down on his back and resting his head in her lap, her back blocking the view from the plane-full of spectators, and Tamaki smiled at the protectiveness he saw there.
The club president turned back to Haruhi. "What say we go help Kyouya with the damage control, before Honey-sempai causes further injuries and things get more out of hand?"
And as the host club moved away, shepherding their flock off the plane and pacifying the situation in general, Nekozawa's breathing slowly returned to normal. When he opened his eyes and saw how close she was, he closed them again and turned his face aside. "… I've done it all wrong haven't I? Made a fool out of myself, made a fool out of you…"
He felt smooth hands against his face and the touch of lace as Renge began dabbing away the sweat drops on his forehead, no sign of anger on her face. "Shhh… don't talk."
And her smile then was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.
He placed a hand on top of hers, holding it there with strength that surprised even himself. "What I wanted to tell you was… Renge-san, I… I've…"
"I know." Renge leaned forward slowly until her forehead rested against his, and it was like a first kiss; he closed his eyes and so did she. "… Me too."
