It was another warm spring-nearing-summer morning. The temperature was slightly hotter compared to the previous days. Although it was still early, the sun shined brightly, and it was an ideal day for a bike ride or a trip to the beach. The flawless air conditioning system inside the limousine kept its occupants cool as the sleek, black automobile traveled toward its destination.
Pressed in between the two twins, Haruhi toyed with her hair. It was the same style that she had worn for her outing with Hikaru; pigtails with a touch of curl. That day seemed so long passed already. She was wearing one of Mrs. Hitachiin's more earlier designs. The dress was white, strapless, and ended a few inches above her knees.
The twins, although satisfied with the clothing she was bringing on the trip, were not so reluctant to let their female companion travel with them in such drab fashion as she had previously donned. Thankfully, her previous clothes (a green t-shirt and baggy beige shorts), were safe at home and tucked away in the sanctuary of her drawer.
On her wrist was an array of colorful bracelets. It was in a rainbow pattern. Red, orange, yellow, and so on. The bracelets were the only colorful thing she was wearing, she realized, as she looked down at the white flip-flops situated on her feet.
"So cute," Tamaki said with watery eyes as he admired his "daughter's" most recent look. He hadn't stopped the teary-eyed expression ever since they had left her apartment.
"See, my lord, that's why you didn't get to fetch her and we did," Hikaru said as he wrapped his arm securely around Haruhi and snuggled her cheek affectionately. She continued to look forward, staring at Kyoya as he typed loudly on his laptop.
"Did you really have to bring that along?" Haruhi asked, giving the laptop a skeptical gaze, "After all, isn't this another 'group bonding' activity?"
"He's bonding with his laptop," Kaoru interjected with a grin.
Kyoya ignored the comment, choosing to only acknowledge Haruhi's statement, "This isn't another 'group bonding' activity. It is merely a vacation in which we are not expected to woo women with our charms."
Haruhi gave a somewhat satisfied shrug before leaning back into her seat with a bored sigh. She had grown used to the familiar embraces of the twins and wasn't as uncomfortable as she would have been a few months ago, entangled in their almost possessive-like grasp. She was almost able to completely ignore it. Her eyes drifted to the other side of the limo where Mori and Hunny sat together. Hunny was looking out the window next to him with a bright smile, but had nothing to say. Mori sat somberly, looking out the same window as Hunny with an expressionless face.
Hikaru was comfortably resting against the girl. His arms were wrapped around her waist, brushing up against his twin's side. Kaoru was in a similar position and seemed to be equally content with his arms wrapped around their favorite "toy". The atmosphere in the limousine wasn't tense or anything, but nobody was talking. It was boring.
It was too difficult to bait Kyoya into arguing with him and his brother. The guy was obsessed with his laptop! Hikaru glared at the stupid pineapple logo on the back of the expensive device. Maybe, during the trip, the laptop would suddenly "go missing", only to end up at the bottom of the ocean. Or maybe it would travel into some unsuspecting person's suitcase. That would definitely storm up a great deal of confusion... and fun!
"Yaaaay! We're here! We're here!" Hunny shouted excitedly, bouncing in his seat, as the limousine began to slow to a stop.
Haruhi glanced out the window, immediately spotting the white giant docked nearby.
The cruise ship was more than she had expected. And after being surrounded by such... eccentric people for such a lengthy period of time, she had already expected a lot from the beginning. Had she been standing directly next to it, looking up, she was sure her neck would have bent in a ninety-degrees angle.
The limousine driver appeared to open the door, the one located nearest to Hunny. The blond senior cheerfully bounced out, followed by his cousin's less enthusiastic movements.
Kyoya snapped his laptop shut, and shifted the device so it was tucked under his arm. He slid gracefully across the leather seats until he was out of the door.
Tamaki, who had finally snapped back to reality after a long session of being lost in his inner-mind theater, stared at the three freshmen who remained in their seats. The two twins waited for the club's president to leave, confining Haruhi to her seat. Realizing that he wasn't going to win, Tamaki exited the limousine.
Kaoru shot his brother a small victory smirk that went unnoticed by the girl stuck between them.
The remaining three had successfully slid out of the limousine, still attached to each other. Haruhi had managed to provide the driver a sincere "thank you" despite being dragged, at the same time, towards the ship where the other guys were waiting.
Three men, all dressed in matching white tuxedos, jogged past them as they finally joined the rest of the club members.
Haruhi twisted in the twin's arms so she could catch a glimpse of the men that were unloading their luggage from the trunk.
'So they must be part of the staff,' Haruhi thought as she watched them take out the twin's luggage first. The two of them, although claiming they were "sharing luggage", had brought along five different, large suitcases. Her single, black suitcase felt extremely insignificant compared to the amount of items her fellow club member's had stored away in the expensive bags.
The sun was brighter than she remembered, Haruhi realized. She couldn't even shield her eyes because the twins still clung to her arms, restricting her movement. Her right arm was starting to fall asleep. Unlike Kaoru's somewhat lax grip on her left, Hikaru had wrapped around her right arm like iron. Her gaze drifted over to Tamaki who looked as comfortable as ever with a pair of dark shades resting upon the bridge of his nose.
As soon as Tamaki had started talking about the ship, Haruhi had tuned out. She looked around some more, her eyes roaming across the area. There were people wandering about, some already boarding the ship. Everyone appeared to be first-class material. Some even went so far as to have servants or assistants trail a short distance behind them. There were still people, like the Host Club, that were just arriving in pricey vehicles and limousines. She noticed that there were plenty of the ship's crew wandering around, assisting the newcomers with their luggage or directing people towards the ship.
"My lord, your speech is boring our toy," Hikaru said as soon as he noticed Haruhi's wandering eyes. She wasn't paying attention to the club president, but neither had he or his twin. They were watching her curious and thoughtful gaze.
"Uh," Tamaki said as he backed up at the bored expressions plastered across everyone's face. He regained his posture, deciding that he wouldn't let the twins get the best of him, "... well let's go on board!"
Hunny was the first one on the ship, running excitedly past a woman who pressed the small dog she was carrying to her breast in surprise. Mori politely excused his cousin, but strolled past her as well.
The rest of the host club patiently allowed the woman and her dog to continue their ascent before making their way up the ramp in pursuit of the two seniors.
The ship was even more amazing when one was on it. The brief view she had gotten from just staring from below did no justice. There were over a hundred people already on the deck. Some were with their families, some alone, some with (what she assumed) business parties, but she couldn't see any other group of teenage friends like the ones she was with. She wondered if they looked out of place.
With a side glance at her group - all stylishly dressed, handsome, young men with an elegant air despite the unique characteristics she had discovered in each over the past months - the thought flipped itself overboard. Probably already sunk to the bottom of the ocean, too.
"Let's go to our rooms!" Tamaki voice rang enthusiastically, shaking Haruhi from her thoughts.
"Hikaru and I get to share with Haruhi, right?" Kaoru inquired in a teasing tone.
Tamaki's face went red before exploding at the younger twin, "NO! DADDY WON'T ALLOW HIS DARLING DAUGHTER'S INNOCENCE AND PURITY TO BE DISTURBED!"
"Because my lord wants to keep that pleasure for himself," Hikaru joked.
Haruhi looked at the turned heads that were facing her group's direction. The club president's outburst had captured the attention of a few of the ship's guests. It wouldn't be good to draw too much attention on just the first day. The familiar thought of, 'I can't believe I'm stuck with these guys for seven days,' lingered in her mind.
Tamaki's face remained red, but more so out of embarrassment. He stuttered out, "...N-no, that isn't it!"
Kyoya rolled his eyes, pushing the slow moving 'prince-type' along with one hand guiding him. His other arm continued to cradle his laptop securely against him.
Their rooms were thankfully, and conveniently located as close to the deck as possible. Haruhi figured it was Tamaki's father, Mr. Suoh, who had made the arrangements for his son and his friends.
"So it'll be Mori and Hunny in room 4290, Kaoru and Hikaru in room 4291, and ..." Tamaki trailed off as he looked at the keys in his hand. 4293 was the room he and Kyoya would have resided, but then that left Haruhi...
"Haruhi can stay with us!" Kaoru and Hikaru practically throttled the blond for their key, noticing he had not secured enough rooms to meet his plans.
"I thought I had asked father for four rooms," Tamaki said, looking confused and lost in thought. It wasn't until a few moments after it had occurred that he realized he was only holding two keys instead of the three. He should have had four...
"HEY WAIT!" Tamaki said as the door to 4291 was slammed shut and locked with a "click."
Kyoya grabbed the key for 4293 from his angry companion, opened the door with a sigh, and closed it behind him before making his way to the bed. He would have to see if he could come up with a convincing plan to swap Tamaki with Haruhi. If not, he doubted he'd be getting much sleep this week.