AN: Hi there, this is my first fan fiction ever and I haven't written anything in a long time, but because of my anxiety issues I haven't been able to sleep much. Which in turn got me binge watching anime again and after a strange dream, I'm here. I am new to fan fiction as a whole and feel completely lost. Sorry in advance.
Everything happened so fast, yet the fall felt like years had been passing for Haruhi as she watched Tamaki's car drive by while her body continued its descent into the river. She knew it was foolish to take a literal leap of faith like this, but what other choice did she have? She already went to an extreme of chasing someone down in a horse drawn carriage and even though she found herself colliding with the surface of the water, she could see that he didn't stop or even slow down. Was she about to die over someone who clearly didn't care about her as much as she thought he did? Was the princely love just an act that she fell for? Haruhi wasn't ready for the full impact of the water's surface; it completely winded her, and she felt her body surge in pain as her shocked gasp filled her lungs with icy pain. Perhaps she should have struggled just a bit more to find the surface, but something inside of her felt as though sinking may have been the better option. For the first time in a long time she truly felt out of control.
Haruhi couldn't say that she had every moment of her life planned out perfectly, but she knew what path to take and where she would find herself at the end of it. With her time at Ouran she finally didn't feel so alone on her pathway anymore, but now.. she couldn't see herself walking anywhere, metaphorically or physically. She didn't try hard enough, or maybe.. she finally realized that her fantasy of having the host clubs members supporting her through life forever was just a stupid fantasy. She still had many more years at the school and someone she had grown far too close to was just leaving, not even just the school, but the whole damn country.. He left her behind, he left all of them.
Vision blurring, and lungs screaming in pain, Haru could vaguely see the shape of someone reaching for her. The sound of water splashing out from her own throat, along with the steady pumping against her chest was enough to jolt her back to reality. Haruhi's body would spring to life, causing her to sit up while she fought to gasp in as water continued to empty from her still burning lungs. She frantically grabbed at the nearest person beside her, clearly struggling to stay calm while her body tried to reset itself from the trauma of almost dying.
Mori, who was drenched and had been giving her CPR, took her hands calmly in an attempt to ease her through the struggle. The rest of the host club sat silently around her on the shoulder of the river bank, all but Kyoya who was, from the outside, stoically making phone calls, but just like everyone else he was beyond worried for Haruhi's safety and was quickly making sure that she would be medically taken care. The sound of his phone snapping shut made her flinch just a little, but the water seemed to stop coming and she found herself wheezing weakly while looking at Kyoya. "an Ambulance will be here shortly," he announced to the group, who hadn't taken their eyes off of Haruhi for even a second.
"Sorry..." she whispered through a very raspy voice.
"Haru-Chan!" Honey called out instantly, tears welling in his eyes as he threw his small frame at her, embracing her tightly. "I was so scared!" he continued, crying out just a little too loudly. She weakly pat his back, now fully looking over the troubled faces of the rest of the host club.
"I think we would all have done the same,'' the twins chimed in reassuringly, both of them now scooting in just a bit closer to join Honey in the hug. Haru sat quietly in their arms, her body now shivering, seemingly coming down from the shock of it all; having all these warm bodies pressed against made her finally realize how freezing the river was.
Mori was quick to drape Haruhi in any of the loose clothes he had removed and sat himself behind her in an attempt to keep her warm from all sides. "You can catch a cold," he stated bluntly from behind her, his mouth next to her ear and his chin on her shoulder. She wasn't sure if he was making an excuse to get closer to her or was truly worried, in fact all of the host club seemed to move closer now. If things were normal right now they all knew that this odd hug wouldn't be acceptable, but Haruhi seemed to lean into it, too weak to fight and too cold to resist.
"Did Ta-" she started, biting her lip a little too roughly at the thought of saying his name, but she didn't have to finish.
"He left. Didn't even care to see if you were alright," Kyoya answered quickly, his words like venom and his worried expression morphing far too quickly into one that spewed hatred from every angle of his face. She recoiled a little, feeling worse than ever before; who was the person she had really gotten to know? Tears quickly flooded her cheeks and, for the first time in a long time, she was ugly crying in front of people. Was it because she lost someone or because she let herself love someone who didn't love her back? Was love too strong of a word? It was hard to tell; she had never felt so close to anyone before, but now it felt like there was no one ... like she was going to end up alone again. What did she do wrong? What didn't she do to make him stay? Maybe she would just never be good enough for someone like him.
The boys watched quietly with tears welling in their eyes. All of them feeling different levels of anger, sadness and betrayal. After all, they too lost someone important to them, each in different ways, but before anyone could reflect with her on his departure, the sound of a siren quickly grabbed all of their attention. It pulled them all back to reality and they pulled themselves away from Haruhi in unison, letting Mori scoop her up. "I'm okay.. I don't need to go," she quickly murmured, using the palms of her shaking hands to roughly wipe the tears away.
No one responded to her; she just found herself being placed onto the gurney and rolled into the back of the ambulance. An EMT and Kyoya were quick to get in behind her, one sitting on either side of her. "Miss Fujioka, I'm gonna need some infor-" the EMT started saying, his eyes focused on the clipboard in his lap, but Kyoya was quick to interfere, offering to give him anything he needed. The white noise of Kyoya speaking and the motion of a moving vehicle soon helped ease her to sleep. By the time she'd come to, she woke in a hospital room that was far too nice for her, her finger clamped with a heart monitor, and an empty IV bag plugged into her other arm. She felt a little out of it, but mostly, she was overwhelmed with how empty and quiet the room was. Before she could even sit up, the door cracked open and Kyoya stepped in, pausing a moment as he was greeted by her open eyes. He looked her over, doing his best to seem indifferent, though he was glad to see her awake and seeming relatively okay.
Taking a seat next to her, he looked her over; he had never seen her so tired. Her stare was almost seeping through him. "Kyoya-Senpai.. is it still today? " she said groggily, now realizing how labored her breaths were through her words. His eyebrows raised, surprised by how strange and cute her question was. A corner of his mouth rose in a slight smile.
"Yes, it's just late. I see the bit of morphine you were given is helping you relax," speaking with a hint of playfulness to his voice, but doubting that she could pick up on it in her current state. "The doctors said you should be fine, your body, mostly lungs a little sore, but you're free to leave whenever you want. I was given two prescriptions for you.'' He spoke bluntly now, getting back to business as usual. Pulling out two slender pill bottles from his pocket, he gently rattled the pills to emphasize them to her. "This one's for pain." He paused to put the first bottle on the nightstand next to her, her eyes hazily following his hand movements. "This one is to help.. if-" he pursed his lips, not sure how to tackle the subject of trauma. Of course, he knew it would be reasonable for anyone to struggle with the whole 'falling off a bridge and almost drowning' thing, but a large part of him didn't want Haruhi to have to struggle through something like that.. but if she did it was his job to help her. Kyoya's eyes grew wide at his own thoughts; is it really his job to take care of her or did he just give himself this duty? Was it because of his connections to the medical world or because the thought of Haruhi in distress as something distressing?
"Senpai?" She called out to him worriedly, jolting his stare back to her, his normal indifferent demeanor now cracking just a little as he mirrored her worried look. Perhaps the thought of losing her today really put things into perspective. Perhaps having his best friend leave him so abruptly for seemingly no good reason also put things into perspective.
"Sorry, I was just.. just getting a little lost in thought" he finally replied, clearing his throat. "This one is just in case your having some trouble coping with today's events." He spoke slowly, picking his words carefully. "Do you want to go home or would you feel more comfortable here for the night?" now speaking quickly, not wanting to discuss what 'trouble coping' really meant.
Her eyebrows furrowed in response; he could see the wheels turning in her head and hear her breathing just a little too loud. "I want to go home."
"Then I'll let you rest while I arrange some things for you." In one swift motion, he stood and made his way to the door, pausing abruptly when he heard her meekly calling out for him.
"Kyoya!"
He turned to look at her, sleepiness enveloping her eyes, but the way she said his name and the way she was staring at him only made those feelings of wanting to take care of her bubble inside of him in ways he'd never experienced before - in ways he's not sure he's ever felt before either. "Yes?"
Her face flushed a little, spreading to her ears "I..." she attempted, struggling to say what she wanted to as her gaze fell to the white bed sheets covering her.
"You can tell me anything," he blurted out, his mouth now moving faster than his brain. He knew he meant it.
"I don't want to be alone." She forced out her words quickly, her eyes still looking anywhere but at him.
"Okay." His word came in a whisper just loud enough for her to hear. He wasn't really sure how else to respond. Of course he wouldn't leave her alone, but it was such a strange request from her; almost any request from Haru could be considered strange. Unfortunately, at least for him, he could hear the commotion on the other side of the door. Luckily, at least for her, she wouldn't have to be alone for the moment, but it would be best for him to leave. Side stepping just in time for the door to open, Ranka burst through the door, teary eyed and ready to dote on his daughter, allowing Kyoya to slip out behind her dad.
