Rain (part 5)

We all felt it…

That emptiness…cold and unforgiving…

It was eternal…

"Excuse me," a voice said, as the door in the Third Music Room opened hesitatingly. "There's mail for a Suou Tamaki."

It was a mailman. Lately, there had been many mailmen that came knocking on the door of their club room. Tamaki dashingly smiled at his customers, excused himself and ran straight to the door, his eagerness betrayed in the speed of his pace. He quickly signed for it and tore the big, brown envelope open.

Maybe this time there's a letter… he hoped. But, when he pulled out the contents, his bright eyes suddenly darkened. There was no letter. It only contained the same thing as the countless other envelopes before it did: a complete schedule of club events, a copy of recent club accounts, a new magazine layout and new ideas for club motifs for the rest of the week.

Kyouya… Tamaki thought, tightening his fists. Where are you?

Kyouya had been gone for a month now. They were all shocked once they found the note he placed on his work table in the club room, saying that he'd gone away and that he'll be back soon.

That was all.

There was no explanation for his sudden disappearance, or where he was going, how to contact him or even when he'll be back. They all thought that was the end of the club, with both Haruhi and Kyouya gone. But Kyouya kept them moving by sending them materials and schedules every two or three days. He kept on doing his job, kept the club alive even though he wasn't there, and they found that the best thing they could do for him was to keep on doing their parts as well, act as if nothing's changed and lie through their teeth when customers inquired about him.

Tamaki walked up to Kyouya's work table where there stood a stack of brown envelopes and placed the recent one on top. He sighed. Kyouya wasn't their only problem. He diverted his gaze to a small, hunched, lonely figure sitting by a window and looking out, trapped in a dead daze.

Haruhi.

The twins had convinced her to come back. They came to her house, followed her around campus and even sent notes to her in class for a week, pleading her to change her mind. They were very determined, but so was Haruhi and she kept on rejecting them until one day, when the twins were badgering her on her way to school, she said, "I told you, I don't want to come back! I can't face him again!"

Hikaru had casually answered, "Who? Kyouya-senpai? Didn't you know? He suddenly disappeared. He's been gone since last week."

Kaoru had elbowed him hard on the side of his stomach, telling him to shut up but Haruhi had stopped, faced them and said, "I'll come by later."

And from then on, she began to attend club activities every single day. All of them gained hope again, even though she was acting strange, unsociable and unable to entertain customers. It was a start.

"Haaaaru-chan!" Mitsukuni greeted merrily, skipping in front of Haruhi with a wide grin and reddened cheeks.

Honey-senpai! No! What are you doing? Tamaki exclaimed in his head, freezing with fear. The twins soon joined him, trembling from head to foot. For the past few weeks, Haruhi had been an unpredictable gaunt figure, easily driven away by attempts of cheering her up. If anyone approached her with a happy gesture, she would quickly stand up and leave. It had happened so many times now and they all had grown wise, resolving to leave her in peace until she's ready to recover from her pain. And here was Mitsukuni, committing that forbidden act!

"My lord!" Kaoru hissed in Tamaki's ear, panicking. "Someone should stop him! Where's Mori-senpai?"

"Kaoru…" Hikaru trembled. "He's not here. He's in the martial arts room…"

"Then we're dead!" Kaoru despaired.

The three of them watched, helpless. It was already too late to grab Mitsukuni, Haruhi had already turned to him. If they interfere now, who knows what would happen?

"Haru-chan, do you want to share this strawberry cake with me? I'll let you have most of the strawberries!" Mitsukuni exclaimed, his grin widening.

Haruhi just stared at him.

"This is it! She's gonna leave again!" Hikaru said, losing hope.

But to their surprise, a small smile formed in Haruhi's lips and she accepted Mitsukuni's offer saying, "I'd love that."

"Here, take my bunny!" Mitsukuni offered, pushing the bunny into her hands. "Isn't he warm and cuddly? He always makes me feel better. Don't you think so?"

"I do," was all Haruhi could say, for she began to hug the fat, pink bunny with a tenderness that was unexpected of her.

Tamaki, Hikaru and Kaoru looked on, puzzled. It was the first time they had seen Haruhi smile since her return. Tamaki sighed with relief and placed his arms on the twins' shoulders. He smiled.

"Finally. She's coming back to us."

X X X

Haruhi felt herself slowly being drawn out of the dark world she was trapped in. Mitsukuni's smile was so pleasing and affectionate that she couldn't help smiling back. When the others approached her, she could see their hidden fears of provoking her into crying again that she couldn't stand facing them. She had to get away, or else she'd be reminded of Kyouya and she'd fall back into tears. But Mitsukuni was different. He was so sincere and careless at the same time. He looked at her without hesitations, without being guarded of his actions and words. He made her feel comfortable. He was filled with childish innocence and it made her feel safe in his presence, because she was able to pretend that nothing was wrong. It was refreshing.

As Mitsukuni began to tell her stories about the adventures of his bunny and his love of cakes, Haruhi's eyes drifted towards Kyouya's work table. The pile of brown envelopes caught her attention. How many had he sent now? 10…? 20…?

Haruhi couldn't tell her exact feelings, but upon learning that Kyouya had gone away, she felt she had to come back to the club. She understood his motive. He was trying to bridge the trouble the two of them caused and she had to follow or else his going away would have been useless.

So he ran away, she thought. What are you trying to do, Kyouya? Are you trying to make me forget you?

She tried to forget him, but his presence in her mind was so persistent that she finally decided it was pointless to keep on trying. She kept on remembering that rainy night when he kissed her, when he slept beside her, and his steady breathing that kept her calm all throughout the night.

Do I miss him? She asked herself. She imagined his tall figure sitting by the work table, engrossed in his laptop and typing furiously on the keys. Yes, she missed him. But the reason for it, she couldn't tell. What is it I'm feeling?

She chickened out when Tamaki tried to confront her about her feelings for Kyouya. But there was nothing else she could do! She didn't know it herself, how could she explain it to Tamaki?

Do you hate Kyouya? Tamaki's question lingered before her, and her answer was still the same. She doesn't hate him. Even though he hurt her in a way that made it hard for her to recover from, she couldn't hate him. There was something else she felt for him that was far from hatred. It was something she dared not name. If she did, she felt that she would hurt herself more because Kyouya would probably not feel the same. He was very clear about it. It was all just a joke. She couldn't risk telling him her feelings now. She was afraid he might again say that it all meant nothing to him. And that would be far worse than anything she could imagine.

"Haru-chan? You're awfully quiet, are you okay?" Mitsukuni inquired, peering close to her face with a worried look.

She smiled for a second time. "I'm fine," she assured him. "What happened to your bunny next?"

Mitsukuni glowed with childish excitement, as if someone handed him a big, juicy lollipop. "He chased away the dark monster and then everything was flooded in light! He brought back the prince and then everyone was happy again, because the curse on the princess was lifted when the prince returned and she was restored to her beautiful self," he pointedly related, smiling widely.

Haruhi paused, looking down at the pink bunny in her arms. She looked up at Mitsukuni who was still smiling, and she falteringly asked, "W-why? What was the—curse….on the princess?"

"Oh that! Weren't you listening to me?" Mitsukuni scolded teasingly. "You see, a witch transformed the princess into this ugly, dark creature and the only way to bring her back is for the prince to kiss her."

"W-why the prince?"

"You little silly! It's because they're in love with each other!"

Love.

Haruhi frowned, her mind getting confused again. While Mitsukuni was telling the story, she couldn't help thinking of Kyouya. And suddenly, that one word from Mitsukuni gave meaning to everything she was feeling.

Was she…

Was she in love with Kyouya?

She stood up and handed Mitsukuni his bunny. "I'm sorry, Honey-senpai," she said. "I need…to—go now." And with that, she raced out of the room.

Mitsukuni walked silently towards the frozen trio, who had been watching them the whole time. He faced Tamaki with a serious face, and said, "It's up to her now. I did the best I could to make her realize it. I mean, someone had to say it for her to figure it out."

"Thank you, Honey-senpai," Tamaki said.

Forgive me, Kyouya, Tamaki thought. I had to tell everyone about your feelings for Haruhi. It's time for us to step in and help the two of you realize what you feel for each other. Otherwise, you two would just go on denying it to yourselves. I promise you, when you come back, the old, happy Haruhi would be here to greet you.

But Tamaki wondered why, every time he thought of Kyouya and Haruhi together, he felt a little pain in his heart.

Note from the Author:

Here you go, guys! I updated as fast as I could. :)