{Chapter contains profanity}


"Ranka, you have to admit it was kind of comical." said Ryou, a fellow bartender. The two of them were getting bottles ready, preparing for the herd of customers lined up outside.

"You aren't a parent, Ryou. I can't exactly feel the same way that you do." Ranka sighed, straightening out the arrangement of the alcohol.

"You just have to loosen up. Haruhi's over it, no?"

"I won't rest until I see a formal apology from the Editor-in-Chief of that godforsaken paper. I won't rest until I see a formal, public apology from the cretins that made my entire family, neighborhood, and many of my friends doubt Kotoko's fidelity." Ryou left the conversation at that. Ranka never, ever talked about his late-wife since the funeral. Her death left a scar that put him in agony whenever provoked. However, Ranka didn't feel like quite letting go.

"I was so scared, when I first saw the paper. I thought, 'What if Haruhi wants to be with her real father? What if Haruhi won't love me anymore?' " Ranka's eyes glistened. "Then, I thought, 'You idiot. How could you doubt that this is your child? You were the one who tasted all of her trials at cooking. You were the one who put Band-aids on her knees whenever she got scraped, and you were the one who held her hand at her mother's funeral. Not this schmuck."

"Ranka," Ryou said, giving Ranka a tight hug, "You are phenomenal. A single parent, working day and night to support your family, making sure Haruhi is as happy as possible, and the one you think about when your parenthood is doubted is your daughter."

"Hey, you don't have to remind me about the "single" part, do you want me to cry?" Ranka asked, frowning. Ryou blushed, then went back to work. "I'm going to make sure that this doesn't go unpunished, this insult to my family."

My poor baby, she's already gone through so much. Ranka thought.

Haruhi's neighbors were beginning to think that she was crazy. With the thin walls that separated every apartment, they could always hear her when she was having a conversation with Dara. It wouldn't have bothered them so much if they could hear that Haruhi was not babbling to herself, but that she had company. She and Dara had tons of catching up to do. She wanted to know everything, even the things that she wouldn't normally be interested in, like gossip.

She found out that students and teachers used the storage room for romance, illegal substance use, and even- to Haruhi's dismay- as a place where many would spend lots of time just sobbing.

{I see. So those people weren't your biological family.} Dara said. {Nekozawa-san must have messed up big time for such chaos to have ensued.}

"It all ended up fine, I guess." Haruhi told him. "Say, Dara?"

{Yes?}

"12 years sure changed you."

{No, Haruhi. You are the one who has changed.} Dara laughed. {See, as an object under a spell to be used as a companion, I am merely an extension of your true state of mind. When you were younger and more energetic, so was I. When you are feeling doubtful, but aren't able to admit it, I will guide you.}

"Then when are we having a conversation? Why don't you just read my mind?" Haruhi snorted, rolling her eyes.

{I'm not actually you, stupid.}

"I still can't believe it." Haruhi said, leaning back. "Magic is real. How do you even know all of this?"

{Nekozawa has magic blood and it was his magic and knowledge that created me.}

"So Nekozawa-sempai is... your father."

{Does that bother you?}

"No...no, but..It's always the quiet ones." Haruhi cooed. "They always have some crazy background."

Dara didn't even dare say "kind of like you" because he knew that would upset Haruhi to no end. The fact that she and her father were in the witness protection program was not often brought up, but this time was different.

"I still don't feel very safe, you know." Haruhi said. "It's a...horrible thing to say... But I wish that they were put on death row. I just wish all of their alliances outside would drop dead, so we wouldn't have to hide anymore."

{There's no point in rejecting the way that things turned out. This is your life now, Haruhi. Those men are trapped till they die, you are here.}

"Haruhi, huh."

{You would prefer it if I called you-}

"No. I can't dwell on it, and let it consume me. Haruhi is who I am, that's my name.. Fujioka, Haruhi."

For the first time in years, that name coming out of her mouth felt warped, unnatural, and bizarre. "Fujioka, Haruhi." She said again, blankly. "Excuse me, I need a moment." She said, taking Dara off of her hand. She went to the bathroom, leaned over the sink, and stared into the mirror. "Fu-jio-ka," she said. "Ha-ruhi." She felt nothing, yet she felt like a fool. It seemed like the only thing that belonged to her was her face.

Her parents pleaded and pleaded with the doctors not to change her face. Eventually, they gave in. They were poorly funded, other families needed to be helped, they couldn't cope with Haruhi's tantrums to keep her face for the rest of her life, so they gave her a prosthetic face mask. They were ashamed, and kept it quiet. Until all of the allies of the criminals were in jail, the family was kept on particularly close watch.

She touched her cheeks, her lips, her nose. "Ha...ha...ha...ru.h.." She syllables were forced out her now-dry throat. "Dammit," she said, along with a few more colourful curses. "Dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit!" She banged the sink, and looked back in the mirror. Trying to say her own name was like trying to swallow needles. Each sound her mouth made was painful and unnatural. "Tch. No point." she said before she went back to the living room to sulk.

"If you don't stop changing your mind every time I ask you for advice, I'm going to have a fit." Nekozawa hissed, furious with his puppet friend.

{What can I do? What I want is what you really want.} Beelzenef said indifferently. {One day you know what you're doing is a bad idea, the next you've convinced yourself otherwise. You're a very unstable person.}

"Unstable you say?" Nekozawa said, touching the melted wax dripping down the candle delicately. The wax instantly hardened when it came into contact with his skin. "I suppose you're right. But what can I do about that? Put myself under a spell to numb my heart?" He snorted.

{Your magic has gone haywire in the past few months. You need to detach yourself a little bit, Umehito. Stop focusing on that new spell you're working on. It sounds crazy just coming out of my mouth, but why not enjoy what little time you have left with Haruhi?}

"The sooner this all ends, the better. The sooner all of this pain goes away, the better."

{Pain?}

"I want to be with her. I want to cherish her and make sure she is taken care of forever.}

{You love her?}

"Why does love have to be romantic?!" Nekozawa bellowed. He threw Beelzenef onto his dresser. "Haruhi is my sister! You know nothing about love, yet you dare say that I...I..."

"Onii-chan," she said, clutching Nekozawa's shoulders tightly as he gave her a piggy back ride around the school. Today would be the day. The real Haruhi would come back, this one would be gone. "You're crying."

"I am not." He said, adjusting a bit so she wouldn't fall.

"You aaaaare." Haruhi whined, tugging on his wig. "Why are you crying?"

"I'm not." He said, his throat was clenched painfully. "I'm not crying."

"You are though!"

"Haruhi! Shut up! I'm not crying!" he growled at her, fuming. His glare was soul-crushing to her.

Haruhi's lips quivered, her shoulders trembled. She began to wail on Nekozawa's back, and buried her head in his neck. Nekozawa's eyes widened, at first he couldn't believe took her off of his back and held her tightly, rocking her up and down. "No, Haruhi, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to get so angry with you, I'm so sorry." She continued to wail "Shh, shh, it's okay." He cooed. He was too tired to even try to make his way back to the clubroom. Haruhi was small and energetic, it was a bittersweet pain trying to spend time with her. He wondered if his parents felt like this while raising him. He cradled her in his arms, "I'll stop crying if you stop."

She looked at him, and pouted. "Pinky swear," she said, eyeing him like a hawk. He held up his pinky, twisting it around her gently.

"How did you become such a rock at 15?" He asked quietly, leaning against the wall. He let Haruhi play with locks of hair from his wig.

"How do people become rocks, Onii-chan?" She asked.

"No, not the rocks outside. Becoming a rock means.. you're unemotional," he said, then smirked, "Not a little crybaby like you."

Haruhi's lip quivered again, but she regained a little bit of her composure. "Am not." The two of them had a "glaring contest" before Nekozawa grinned and prodded her side, receiving an uplifting giggle in return.

"Really, Haruhi, you have to stop being a crybaby." He said. Haruhi was play-punching the palm of his hand with her angry face on, "Imagine all of the people who will make fun of you." He said, wiping away the tear that was still around her eye.

"Otou-san and Okaa-san said it's good to cry." She huffed.

"Not all of the time, it's not."

"Then when is it good to cry?"

"When you feel like you're going to burst."

"Burst?"

"When your throat starts to hurt," he said, pressing his middle and index finger to her throat gently. "When your cheeks start to burn," he poked her face. "When you feel dizzy and your heart beats quickly."

"Then, are you sick?" She asked, feeling his forehead. "You should go to the doctor."

"I'm just getting ready to... mourn, in a sense."

"Mourn?"

"It's a big-girl word." He said, "You'll learn what it means late...r..." He said before realizing how cruel his words really were, even if Haruhi didn't. standing and lifting her up. "I'm taking you back to the music room now, I have something I have to do."

"Onii-chan?"

"What?"

"I'm sorry your throat hurts. Feel better." She said, and kissed his cheek. "I love you."

He nuzzled her, and said, "You can come to me whenever you feel like you're going to cry." He couldn't stop the words from coming out of his mouth, he tried not to make this day harder than it would've been- was. He failed.

{The fool doesn't even know what's going on inside of his head.} Beelzenef laughed to himself. {I'm glad that I'm a 1st rate Companion, not a 2nd, like Dara. Lord knows how insane I would be if I had Umehito's mind. Dara's lucky, being blessed with the intelligence of Haruhi-san.} Beelzenef listened to Nekozawa scream into his pillow, and genuinely pitied his friend. {He's so lonely, even when his dear Haruhi returned to him.}


The Day After

"Fujioka-sempai!" Haruhi heard the voice of a vaguely familiar younger boy running towards her. Her arms full of groceries, she tried turning her body without tipping over. "Fujioka-sempai, it's me, Takashi's younger brother!" he said.

"Ahh, you're Satoshi-san right? It's nice to see you again. I would shake your hand, but as you can see..."

"Here, let me." He said, taking a few of the bags from her. "Wow, you sure did a lot of shopping today."

"Thank you, you must be very strong to be able to carry them." She laughed. "W-was there something I could help you with, Morinozuka-san?"

"Well, actually, there is. See, i'm.. struggling with a few of my courses and I don't want to shame Takashi Nii-san by getting kicked out of Kendo club.. I was wondering if you'd be able to-"

"Honestly, I would be glad to, but wouldn't your parents rather you use the guidance of a licensed tutor?"

"The problem is... my parents don't know... I don't want them to make me quite Kendo to focus more on studies."

Haruhi stifled a laugh, " Okay, I'll help you, Morinozuka-san. But first, could you help me carry these to the Host Club?"

"No problem, Fujioka-sempai." He said, nodding seriously. The two of them made small talk all the way back to the building.

"...and that's when Takashi Onii-san flipped him over his back and threw him on the ground." Satoshi said triumphantly.

"You're very proud of Mori-sempai, aren't you?" She asked. Martial arts generally bored her, but Satoshi weaved a tale so beautifully articulated about his older brother that she couldn't help but listen.

"Who wouldn't be? He's fantastic." He said, raising his fist in the air. The contest of the bag almost hit him in the face, causing him to blush deeply.

"He really is, " she said, her own face a delicate pinkish hue. "Having someone to look after you like that your whole life is an enviable experience."

"Hey, he's not perfect, ya know." He scoffed, "He drinks the soup from his ramen first." He said.

"No," she shook her head. "Just the fact that there is someone watching over you. Protecting you."

"Ahh, you're an only child, right? Trust me, you're not missing much."

"I guess." She shrugged.

Satoshi thought that Haruhi was very strange. She spoke formally and timidly, like she was intimidated by everything. Well, she was a middle-class student in the midst of a bunch of aristocrats. She didn't know about Martial Arts, sports, or any real guy stuff. She was plain. He boiled it down to her just being a book worm; a nerdy, asocial pipsqueak who talked like a girl. He thought that if it wasn't for her looks, she would never find a girlfriend. Maybe he's gay. No girl wants a weakling, he thought.

Haruhi thought that Satoshi was, on a scale of 1- Tamaki, slightly obnoxious. Nothing like his brother, he must have gotten ridiculed for that a lot. His hair is gelled, unlike Mori's; he must've been trying to copy his natural hairstyle to gain respect. He tried to speak like a thug, but his privileged education gets the better of him and he speaks eloquently most of the time. It was obvious he looked down on her, even if he tried to hide it, but she didn't care.


"Tadashi, I swear to god, if don't stop tapping your damn fingers on the table.." Isamu growled. Tadashi stopped, rolling his eyes at his grouchy friend. They were the only two at their lunch table. The guards kept close watch on them. Two close people in prison could do more damage than a person would think. "Damn this place."

"You say that everyday. If I wasn't here, you'd have bashed your head in the door just to annoy the people who clean."

"I miss not having to take a piss in front of four other guys. I just want to go the fuck outside."

"Man, you're just sexually frustrated. You haven't gotten laid in 12 years."

"I'll be damned if one of these fuckers tries to touch me. When I get out, the first thing I'm doing is getting a hooker. No, 2 hookers. No... four. Each one with huge-"

"Wouldn't it just be easier and cheaper to contract an S.T.D here?"

Isamu glared at him. "I hate it here."

"You're just a fucking special snowflake." Tadashi grunted, shoving the bread into his mouth.

"I'll kill that damn man. I kill his wife too. The brat can live. Tell the world what kind of horror I can dish out." Isamu said, glaring at his food. "I'll make sure she screams real good, just for good measure." He whispered that last part. These were hardened criminals, but pedophiles were at the bottom of the food chain here.

"I'll skin you if you do. And shut up before someone hears you!" Tadashi said, furious. "Don't make anyone else here think I'm as sick as you."

"12 years in prison has turned you soft."

"12 years in prison hasn't changed me, or my morals. I'll kill you before you rape anyone." Isamu didn't take much offense from it. Tadashi wouldn't change his position if he was being tortured, and he's been tortured for many other things before. He was stubborn like that.

"Fine, nothing vulgar, you cunt."

"You're not even getting out of here." Tadashi grumbled, cracking his knuckles. The letters "P-A-I-N" were tattooed on each one except for the thumbs. He had plenty of other tattoos he got at the prison, too many to count. Isamu had a lower tolerance for pain, his only tattoo was a word on his back written in some kind of Celtic script.

"We'll see about that. We'll see."


Also, if any of you are ever planning to read the Demonata series by the magnificent god who is Darren Shan, Bec will make you go "eeeewwwwww" more than the movie Splice will. Possibly, possibly not. I thought that the book was pretty disgusting though, but many people I know who read it weren't (too) bothered by it. However, as we all know I have the maturity of a six year old- proven by chapter two of "I kinda sorta turned her into a three year old" :/ (I re-read that godforsaken chapter and was at a loss for word. "Random humming noise" what the hell was I thinking with that stupid "random humming noise")

Darren Shan though. The sound of his name just makes me happy, ok?