3. Remembrance

Disclaimer
Ouran High School Host Club is the shared property between Hatori Bisco and Bones Studio. I own none of the characters nor the original plot line. Only the idea of this fanfic belongs to me.

Author's Note
Ah..This chapter was so hard to think up, but after reading your wonderful reviews I just had to write more! Yes, thank you very much for your support, minna.
I have nothing more to say at this point except for 'Please read on'!

--

The bright morning light stroke roughly onto the knife that had taken the life of Fujioka Kotoko.

On the weapon was the word 'Tonnerre' printed in a fancy gold font.

Gold, a symbol of wealth and prestigious, could also be interpreted as a hint that none of the police or judges would have declared the murderer to be guilty.

'Tonnerre'...

It was the surname of Suou Tamaki's former fiancée. The former fiancée who was one of the senior girls that had ganged up on the latest victim's freshman daughter.

In fact, Éclair Tonnerre happened to be the leader of the anti-Fujioka group.

"God damn it Fujioka, don't be such an arrogant bastard! And learn how to respect your elders will you?!" the Yankees had verbally attacked the brunette before performing any physical violence on her.

Then they banged her head against the marble floor and forced her to say sorry for her 'bad behaviours'. She, of course, refused coldly; she had done nothing wrong, and therefore, did not know what she had to apologize for.

So the bullying went on.

Fujioka Kotoko had then arrived at the principal's office, asking him to stop the harmful actions toward her daughter from going on.

He ignored her pleading however.

To him, the power of the wealthy was everything, and Éclair Tonnerre's Father was definitely categorized as one of the influential people; he participated in the funding of the school along with the school Chairman – Suou Yuzuru, Father of Suou Tamaki.

Realizing that fact, Kotoko went directly to the Chairman.

However, she was once again turned down.

He proclaimed that he was too busy.

Too busy to work on whatever it was that he had to work on for the good of the school. He had had no time to deal with the problems of every single student, especially not the Commoner that his son had fallen for.

Without anybody else to turn to, Kotoko, being the lawyer that she was, had no choice but to sue Éclair Tonnerre for Third Degree Murder; it was true that the sophomore had not been able to hurt the freshman, but if it wasn't for the appearance of Suou Tamaki, Éclair could have damaged her daughter's face or worse, taken her life.

As expected, the Fujiokas did not win the case.

What Kotoko did, however, had left a long deep scar on the reputation of the Tonnerre family.

No one was willing to social with them anymore.

No one.

And it was all her fault.

Her and her cursed monster of a daughter...

When Fujioka Haruhi got home from school one particular evening, she had found her Mother's high heels to be placed at the front porch, so she decided cheerfully that Kotoko must have gotten home early from work.

The petite girl went directly to the kitchen, hoping to find her okaa-san there.

But to her surprise, the only thing she found was a pot full of freshly baked cookies that were placed on the table.

She was at the restroom, perhaps?

No.

How about the living room?

...No? Then try the backyard.

Still no sign of the female lawyer.

She was nowhere to be found, and Haruhi was starting to get worried.

It wasn't until the petite girl walked into her parents' bedroom, did she notice the pool of blood beside the body of Fujioka Kotoko.

Her heart skipped a beat.

Just when she was about to rush over to her Mother's side, she heard from behind her the heavy breathing of another being within the room.

She vigilantly spun around to see a girl with a head full of long rich burgundy-coloured hair, holding onto a knife with one shaky hand. Tears were streaming down the assassinator's cheeks, and both of her arms were wounded from the possible fight from before.

As soon as Éclair Tonnerre saw the brunette, who also happened to be one that had gotten her into this murdering, she practically lost her sanity.

The pupils of the intruder had shrunk, and without saying anything at all, the blood-stained weapon was shot toward the other girl.

The freshman dodged, stumbling backwards clumsily and dropped her backpack.

She panicked, not knowing whether she should go to her wounded Mother or to flee for the sake of her own life.

Her mind was quickly made up.

Fujioka Haruhi stormed out of the house and sprinted toward Suou Mansion Number Two.

--

The alarm went off while Commander Fujioka was running toward where the 'Crystal Tears of the Mirror' was at – the Third Display Room.

Taking the signal as a cue, the laser barriers shot out from all directions almost immediately as if wanting to kill anyone who would pass the place at this point.

Everywhere around her there was dead silence, making her wonder what the use of having a security team was. She made a mental note to herself that she would most definitely have to order the Inspectors to organize a stronger—and not to mention smarter—group of guards next time.

The brunette then turned to look at what was ahead of her.

It was not till now did she finally realize that she was blessed to have undergone Detective Haninozuka's trainings; any ordinary policeman would not have been able to get through the mass of barriers before her eyes.

The young Commander tucked a strand of lose hair behind her ear and took a deep breath.

Studying the laser closest to her, Haruhi noticed that it was a fake. She went passed several of the dummies and kept running, occasionally making careful little hops or moving in between the actual barriers.

Then she stopped all of a sudden, recognizing that the one right before her face was the real thing.

After making a quick jump over the laser by running up and kicking against the wall, arrows started shooting out of the holes on the concrete.

Without much difficulty the Commander did a triple back flip, using certain arrows as boosts.

She did not make one single sound as she landed.

Panting slightly, her ears picked up the rumbling sound coming from above.

A metal cage fell out of the ceiling, crashing down on her in an alarmingly fast speed.

She swiftly pushed herself into the air and dodged the trap, making a graceful curve as she landed before the entrance of the Third Display room.

As much as she had wanted to kick open the grand doors, she knew that she would have to enter soundlessly; the reawakening of noises would become a signal for the Phantom Thieves to escape.

She entered the password that Mr. Morinozuka had given her and gave one of the doors a slight push, sneaking into the room silently.

To her surprise, the 'Crystal Tears of the Mirror' was still sitting ever so peacefully in its place.

But if it had not been stolen...

Then why did the alarm go off?

Surely the Phantom Thieves would not have wanted to come face to face with her?

Because if they did, it would be all too unnatural; thieves were meant to be running away from the police after all.

Right...?

As the Commander carefully planned on what her next action would be, a soft snicker echoed within the broad and empty room. It sounded like that of the devil's.

She spun around in alarm.

However, darkness was all there was for her to observe.

She lightly strolled around the room but had found nothing other than the displayed items.

She decided then, that the laughter was probably just her imagination. All this pressure was giving her a headache, no wonder she was hearing things.

But wait...

There it was again! The laughter of Satan itself...

This time she stood still, and soon felt two other beings standing on either side of her.

Turning around, the petite woman found herself looking into a pair of attractive golden eyes, which became more focused as the stranger walked out from under the shadows.

The one on the other side of her held the same actions as his mirror reflection. The Cheshire cat grins that they had on their faces were somehow luring her deeper into the tension that had already been building up in her chest.

"Pleasant night, isn't it, Fujioka Haruhi-san?"

The petite Commander's brows shook a little, and droplets of sweat began to form on her forehead as she posed herself for a fist fight.

"Kaitou..." she managed to force out the word through gritted teeth, her eyes glinting dangerously, warning them to stay away.

But how was she supposed to fight off two full-grown men at the same time?

She knew they could easily outmatch her.

One of the Phantom Thieves let out a sly smirk as he shook a piece of hair out of his eyes, crossing his arms before his chest as he gazed casually and superiorly at the woman before him.

Looking smugger than ever, the younger of the twin-thieves ran a finger along the chin of their current 'toy'. "Please my dear, the names are Hikaru and Kaoru. Former titles such as 'Kaitou' will not be necessary during the courses of our conversation."

Slapping off the intruding hand from under her jaw, Haruhi snuck out the two pairs of handcuffs that she had prepared for moments such as this.

She silently took ahold of the targets' wrists and clicked the lock in place as they bent down in the same manner, leaning toward each side of her face as if to press their soft lips against her flesh.

Without a forewarn, both pairs of handcuffs clanged against the marble floor, startling the Commander herself.

"You do realize that mortal objects lose their effects on us?" the older of the two sneered as he picked up the object that the brunette had just used on them.

He then grabbed her wrists in a mischievous yet forceful way, meaning to pinion her freedom with the handcuffs.

Without saying anything at all, the Commander jerked her arm away and sent Hikaru crashing into the wall with a full forced kick against his stomach. Several of the paintings on the wall fell crashing down.

This action of hers startled both Phantom Thieves.

Unlike the twins, she was taking this so seriously...

But why?

It had all been a game to them centuries before, and it still was.

They had become thieves because it was lonely to be living with only each other for hundreds of years.

Making newspaper headlines day after day would surely attract people's attention, and would surely help in getting rid of both their loneliness and their boredom.

Not to mention how thrilling it was to see the infatuated female citizens making fools of themselves.

All the young maidens had been swooning over the charm of the twin-thieves although they knew perfectly well that stealing was not the right thing to do.

Oh, but the idea was just so attractive; who would be needing a 'Prince on a White Horse' when you've got a pair of twin Phantom Thieves, right?

So what was this young girl so angry about anyways?

Why was she not falling head over heals for them, the two drop-dead gorgeous twins?

Why was she so unpredictable, unlike all the other women they have met?

So tiny and delicate yet so strong and stubborn.

Upon seeing the reaction of the Commander, the younger twin decided to take things the gentle way; being forceful is not the only solution in problem solving.

Kaoru leaned toward his target and whispered softly as he caressed her shoulders, his hot breath tickling her ear, "Please learn to respect your elders, Fujioka Haruhi-san."

Although the tone and attitude were completely opposite, but the effect of the statement was definitely powerful.

Both the memories of the high school beating and her betrayal of Kotoko began to devour the petite brunette.

With a hasty inhale she broke free from the younger twin's embrace. Her legs began to knock against each other and were unable to keep her standing any longer. The usually indomitable brunette collapsed, sitting hopelessly on the floor as tears swelled up in her amber orbs, ready to descend down her now flushed cheeks.

The Phantom Thieves were at a loss once more.

Why was she in so much grief?

And...

Why were they feeling so uneasy seeing her like that?

But before they could figure out what the reason was, a thunderous noise became louder and louder as two Inspectors, one Detective, along with the supervisor of the museum came storming into the Third Display Room and besieged both intruders.

With their crafty grins reappearing on their identical faces, the twin Phantom Thieves backed away from Haruhi, retreating to the 'Crystal Tears of the Mirror'. Each of them held onto one side of the art piece and were ready to flee.

Inspector Houshakuji hurriedly mounted her gun and aimed at one of the two.

However, being the ever calculated one as he was, Inspector Ootori knew that if she was to fire now, parts of the art work would have been destroyed as well.

"Hold your gun, Inspector." he ordered in an emotionless tone.

Detective Haninozuka glared at the two intruders, murmuring something about how it had been a big mistake for them to be messing with Haru-chan and that he would get revenge for her and such.

The tension was building up, but the Phantom Thieves were still casually making their way toward the room's glorious window frame, preparing to leave.

One of the twins, the one that parted his hair from the right, held out a hand, and several delicate blue petals appeared upon his palm.

He blew lightly at the fragments of the flower. They landed gently in front of the petite brunette.

"Till we meet again, Fujioka Haruhi-san." Kaoru muttered quietly without any changes in his facial expression.

After casting one last glance at the still despaired brunette, the elder twin gestured an elegant farewell at the rest of the policemen and the two Phantom Thieves took off into the sable night.

The rest of the group quickly moved to the petite girl, with Rengé and Mitsukuni kneeling down beside her.

"Are you alright, Commander darling?"

"Did they hurt you, Haru-chan?"

However, Haruhi did not look at either of the two. Instead, she held out a hand to touch the blue petals that Hikaru had left.

They were that of a forget-me-not's.

And if she remembered correctly, the meanings of the forget-me-nots are hope, remembrance, memories, and true love...

--

On her way back home, Commander Fujioka decided to make a quick phone call to her boss, although she was clearly dreading over the fact that she had to tell him in every single detail as to how she had let him down.

To her surprise, however, after she had finished stuttering over her words, the blonde did not yell at her, nor did he go all dramatic the way he always would in order to exaggerate his emotions.

"No problem," he had said, "We'll just have to make a more thorough plan next time, won't we?"

"...Yes sir, I am forever grateful for your kindness."

Tamaki let out a soft laugh, getting amused by the formality that the Commander always seemed to be unable to drop. "And I'll make sure to tell the reporters to go easy on tomorrow's headline." he teased.

Haruhi felt the heat rising but she managed to bark at the blonde, "Commissioner! That was the cruelest joke yet!"

He chuckled once more then continued, this time in a more serious and concerned tone, "So...Are you feeling better now, Haruhi?"

The brunette made a questioning sound, signaling him to go on.

"Detective Haninozuka told me that you had refused to tell them what happened between you and the Phantom Thieves."

She remained silent, knowing all too well that he would not have understood the situation.

"It was nothing." she responded simply, not wanting to hear what the blonde would say to this.

"But Haruhi!" Tamaki was starting to sound desperate, "Why?...Why do you not want to tell me what happened?! Are we not friends, Haruhi? Or does this have anything to do with me asking you out before?! Are you still mad at me over that?! But I thought we have already made up?...Say something Haruhi! Why do you always lock up your worries to yourself?!"

Getting more and more irritated by his constant budging in on her business, the brunette snapped her cell phone close, throwing it down on the passenger seat.

He did not call back.

Not that she had expected him to anyways.

--

It was nearly two o'clock as she reached the apartment that she and her Father shared.

One would wonder why she had not moved out of the house even at age twenty-two, but she knew better than to worry her Father, who always seemed to be troubled by the fact that her profession was a police.

It could also be her guilt of having betrayed her Mother years ago.

Who knew what kind of madness a man like Ryuji would get into without his daughter always keeping an eye on him? So she had supposed that it would be best if she continued living under the roof of her Father's tiny aparto.

As predicted, her Father was not home yet, probably having a few drinks with his coworkers after the night's work.

The two of them were night owls; both would have to work during the night, although in the case of the daughter, things were a bit different.

She normally worked during the mornings but sometimes there were occasions where she would have to work extra late.

Tonight would be a good example of how her work always occupied her, and why she and her Father could never have a proper meal together.

Because she was so used to staying up late, the petite girl was, at the moment, feeling the least bit sleepy.

So after changing into an ordinary white t-shirt and a pair of slacks, she walked out of the apartment with a piece of chocolate-chipped cookie dangling from the edge of her lips.

She went down to the apartment's mailbox and just so happened to run into the patrolling security guard, a man in his mid-sixties.

"Good morning, Ojisan." the brunette greeted politely with a slight bow.

"Ah, Haruhi-chan, it's nice to see a youth like you getting up so early," the elderly man smiled kindly at her, obviously not knowing that she had not been sleeping at all. "You know, young people these days always like to sleep-in so much without knowing that it's bad for their health! Why in my days—"

The Commander smiled at the way the senior was making his speech. Why all the elders talked that way was beyond her, but one could always learn so much from listening to the old people's past experience!

"By the way, Haruhi-chan?" it seemed like that the old security guard was finished and was moving on to another topic, Haruhi looked back at him with a questioned expression on her face. "Did you know that two young people moved into our neighbourhood this morning while you were away?"

"Oh? Are they lovers living together?" experience told Haruhi that it would always end up being something like that, "Or a newly wed couple, perhaps?"

"Ah, so Haruhi-chan's thinking of getting married as well, eh?" the old man teased, chuckling good-naturedly.

The Commander waved one hand and frowned as she smiled, "No, no, it's still too early for that."

"Not really; Ryuji-kun proposed to Kotoko-chan when they were twenty—It's time you consider finding a man you would like to spend the rest of your life with, don't you think? How about Suou-san? He does come here once in a while, and he seems to be such a pleasant young man!"

Wanting very much to get away from the topic of Tamaki at the moment, the brunette answered perfunctorily, "Oh um...Well, he's an...interesting one. For sure. Now, Ojisan, what were you saying about our new neighbours?"

The old security guard sighed and shook his head while smiling, knowing all too well that, as usual, some kind of disagreement had occurred between the two. "Ah yes. So as I was saying, the two youngsters that had moved in were—...Speak of the devil! Here they come." he held out one crooked finger and pointed at somewhere behind the female Commander as she chewed slowly on another piece of cookie.

Haruhi turned around to look at the direction that the security was pointing to and froze.

"...You have got to be kidding me... "

The first thing she noticed were their eyes; identical golden globs that seemed to twinkle in the dark, and would surely lure the young females that have stared at them for too long into doing whatever they had planned.

Then she noticed their hair, which was really kind of messy, yet looked quite nicely on them. One had his hair parted to the right, while the other had it parted to the left.

The old security guard smiled with a satisfied look on his face as he examined his young friend studying the pair of brothers.

Maybe she would get married soon after all? How thrilling! He could hardly wait for the wedding banquet.

Then the senior, as if he was a child playing hide-and-seek, quietly slipped away unnoticed, returning to his patrolling schedule.

The twins walked toward the young Commander with their arms around each other's shoulders, both holding somewhat sly looking smiles.

They approached Haruhi.

The older one of the twin then, without warning, lifted her face and bit off a huge chunk of the cookie that she had hanging from her mouth. But she was too stunned to actually kick him away this time.

The younger twin stood beside her, licking off the crumbs that were left on her right cheek as he said softly, "It's nice to see you again, Fujioka Haruhi-san."

--

Author's Note
Thank you for reading :)
I admit, my descriptions on the action parts were horrible...And nothing really big has happened in this chapter, well other than the fact that the 'Chrystal Tears of the Mirror' had been taken...Oh I really didn't want to weigh the romance part that heavy, I mean, after all this is a more dramatic action fic. Ugh, but the romance part was still huge...Anyways, all I can say is gomen nasai, for the lack of interesting events!
But I just need more practice with the action scenes, see? Then my skills would (hopefully) improve. If anybody could give me some criticisms on it please don't feel too awkward to do so; holding back would only result in me making even more mistakes.
Hm...I'm sort of out of ideas as to what kind of challenges I can put Haruhi through now. What to do, what to do, what to do...?! And everybody's been having all kinds of different pairings in mind, but I for one actually don't care about who Haru ends up with. Maybe I'm just not that much of a romance person?...Eh?! What am I doing here writing this romance fic, then?! Ugh...I'm such a failure! "OTL
Anyways, enough of my problems. Now all I wish for is for you wonderful readers to please review! Reading what everyone has to say about the story is always a pleasant experience for me, yes. And remember to cast a vote for your favorite couple, ne? Even if it was Kyouya x Haruhi (Which has not the slightest hint within this fic yet..) I will try my best, as well as one-sided shounen-ai; I am terribly bad at yaoi, therefore I will not be accepting that, gomen! I truly hope I will be able to write a good yaoi fic someday though!
Anyways, please regard me kindly in future chapters!
P.S.: Happy New Year! It's the Year of the Boar! Oh, I do like Kagura (Fruits Basket) and her silliness!