Chapter Nine: One small step forward

Haruhi sighed. She still felt a bit dizzy but at least she could think clearly now.

"Are you not saying anything?" Hikaru asked, tilting his head sideways to look at her.

"I've decided I can't really say anything because I'm stuck on this jet plane with you guys and there's no point in yelling because it won't get me anyway," Haruhi said in a single breath. Her eyes were gleaming dangerously.

"Haha," Kaoru laughed nervously. "That's the spirit."

Haruhi shivered. Night was descending and she could see bits of ice forming on the jet plane window. She must have been knocked out for quite a while. "Did you guys bring any of my stuff?" she snapped.

"Oh no!" Hikaru was looking very sorry. "We forgot." Then he grinned mischievously. "But we brought some clothes with us." Kaoru dragged in a huge suitcase and clicked it open.

"Dada!" Out of it came hundreds and hundreds of fancy female clothing. Very female and very revealing.

"Don't you have anything warm?" snapped Haruhi.

The twins' smiles faltered. There was an icy aurora around Haruhi.

"Have my jacket," Hikaru suddenly said and draped his coat over her shoulders.

"Thanks," was her blunt reply. She huddled underneath the huge coat and didn't say a single word afterwards. Hikaru and Kaoru glanced at each other.

"We're so sorry Haruhi…"the twins crooned into her ears, putting their arms around her. "We didn't know you'll be this angry…"

Haruhi's eyebrows twitched. "It's ok," she said wearily, "You shouldn't have drugged and kidnapped me. You could have asked, you know."

"But," said a bewildered Hikaru, "You would have said no." He paused and then looked slightly guilty, "though we did drug you too much, you were unconscious for over a day but besides that…"

Haruhi's face became darker, but she gritted her teeth and restrained herself from saying too much. "The main thing is that I have a lot of homework to do and now I can't do it." Her stomach rumbled. "And being drugged for over a day means I am hungry…"she growled.

"We wouldn't let you starve," Kaoru was shocked. With a click of his fingers, a trail of flight attendants filed through the door, presenting her platters and platters of food. "We were going to have food very soon anyway."

"And we brought your books for you," Hikaru smiled triumphantly, "Happy now?"

"Really?" Haruhi visibly brightened up. She pulled the coat around her more closely and tried to get out of her seat. "This seat belt…"

"Here," Kaoru slipped his fingers around the buckle and clicked it open. "You've never been on a plane or jet before. This is how you undo the seatbelt."

"Thanks," Haruhi stood up and walked away, without even looking at him once. Within minutes she was happily immersed in her own world, crouching over a pile of books in the corner and munching through a classy three course evening meal.

Hikaru and Kaoru sighed. "When will she ever be happy to see US, not a pile of books or fancy food?" Haruhi scribbled in her exercise books, murmuring bits of information; oblivious to the melancholy of the Hitachiins. The answer to that question? "Never…" said the twins in the gloomiest voice they could muster.

Hours later, Haruhi put her pen down and yawned. She stared straight ahead of her. The window was fogged, and she could hear the howling wind rustling the wings of the jet plane. The reality of being on a plane for the first time in her life slowly descended on her.

Two pairs of golden eyes peered at her. "Time for bed?" they said in unison.

"Mmmm…" Haruhi rubbed her tired eyes and looked around her, "How do you sleep on a jet plane? There are no other rooms, and no beds."

"Ah," Hikaru winked at her with a mysterious air, "I wonder how…"

"The seats bend backwards," explained Kaoru. He threw a pillow and a blanket at Haruhi, and she caught them in surprise.

"Here…" Hikaru reached for the lever and pulled one of the seats back.

"This isn't bad…"murmured Haruhi, as she climbed on top of it and settled down.

They smiled at her, amused by their favourite little commoner friend."Looks like we're going to sleep together for once," they said in unison, as they pulled the rest of the seats back. (there were only three seat in the jet plane…it was after all the Hitachiins' personal jet.)

"Sorry," was Haruhi's reply. She shifted to the seat next to the side and then pulled the arm rests up until it formed some sort of barrier. She then turned so that her back faced them.

"Oh dear…" murmered Kaoru.

"How harsh…"finished Hikaru.

The next day, they decided to give her the respect and space she wanted. The principle behind it was simple. "We don't want Haruhi angry with us…" they looked at each other and nodded in agreement. "We want her in a good mood for shopping in India." Aaaand….thought Kaoru privately to himself, serious matters of the heart should be taken seriously. Haruhi needs to look upon Hikaru admirably right? But he was a bit worried. They would be arriving in India very soon. He hadn't counted on Haruhi being a bit moody or the drug being too strong. Time was running out for Hikaru to be alone with Haruhi. There was only one thing to do. Take advantage of the morning of arriving in India.

That would be Hikaru's last chance.

Back in Japan:

Kyouya knew immediately that the Hitachiins had kidnapped Haruhi. Where to, he actually didn't know…but wait! Kyouya shook his head and murmured to himself. "So they were decoys. Forging my handwriting and teasing Tamaki was just the beginning…" He frowned suddenly. "They must have gone to India." The missing piece in the puzzle jumped through his mind. And quickly following that thought was how he was going to pack and get to India, to see Haruhi and confront the twins in his own way. But something still felt horribly wrong. "It works out that way…but that place also happens to be…" Something scribbled in one of his notebooks a long time ago flashed through his mind. Feeling panic lace through his mind, Kyouya quickly picked up his mobile phone. "Of course the Hitachiins wouldn't know otherwise they would have never gone to India," he punched in some numbers in his mobile phone. "Tamaki," he said softly and desperately, "The twins have taken Haruhi to India."

"No," came the rushed reply of Tamaki, "But they don't know…?"

"No they don't."

Tamaki's voice took on a determined and demanding tone. "Get packed. Ring Hunny and Mori. And Kyouya…"

"I'm on to it. Don't worry," With his mouth set in a grim line, Kyouya punched in some other numbers into his mobile. The number of the secret police forces headquarters.

"Haruhi," said Hikaru cheerfully. "How did you find your first plane flight?" They were walking through the terminal to the private car outside, while many men were bundling the Hitachiins' huge suitcases down the jet plane.

"Oh, not bad." Haruhi smiled, and looked around her in interest. His heart quickened to see the glow of happiness on her face. "It is exciting to be in a new country."

"Yeah…" he replied. "I hope you like India…"

"You will…" promised Kaoru, adding to his brother's words. Time for some quick action. He thought as they climbed into the car and drove off to their hotel. When they arrived there, he gave his brother a wink. I hope he got that. It's time to pull part 2 of plan C…but with a twist of course.

In the hotel room:

"Haruhi…" Hikaru murmured. He leaned close to her and trapped her against the wall. "I wanted to tell you something…" Hikaru stopped and gazed at Haruhi in his famous lazy and arrogant way. It always made the girls squeal. Haruhi however just stared at him with her big brown eyes.

"Yes?" She titled her head and waited.

Hikaru suppressed a snort. This was Haruhi of course. He leaned closer and waited for Kaoru's cue. This was the plan they had come up with. The camera was rolling above his head and he chuckled inwardly at the thought of sending the video to Tamaki back in Japan. He would go nuts at seeing how they were treating Haruhi.

Haruhi was so close; he could feel her breath fanning against his cheeks. Hurry up, Kaoru! Hikaru thought, starting to feel slightly uncomfortable. That unfamiliar feeling was snaking into his mind again. He took a chance glance up and to his utter shock Kaoru wasn't even there!

Hikaru froze. He was still inches away from Haruhi. His confidence evaporated and he started to panic.

…

"What is it Hikaru?" Haruhi had picked up the fact that Hikaru had become stiff. He glanced down at her and his cheeks went bright red.

"Uh…uh…" Hikaru stuttered. Haruhi frowned at his sudden change of character. "N-Nothing…" He quickly pushed himself off the wall and stumbled backwards until he was no longer right up close to the girl.

"Well, you did say you wanted to tell me something," Haruhi said annoyed. "Are you ok?" she queried half a second later.

Hikaru was touched by her concern. "Yeah…" he murmured. He tried half a smile. "W-Want to go look at some jewelry now?"

"Well," Haruhi look uncertainly at the unpacked suitcases.

"The servants can unpack for us." Hikaru said quickly,

Damn rich bastards…thought Haruhi. Hikaru seemed to sense the direction of her thoughts. "I know you're probably tired and in a bad mood…"he hesitated. It was the first time he had ever tried being considerate. "But you were excited about being here. Want to have a brief look around?"

Haruhi blinked. "Ok," she replied. A smile broke over Hikaru's face.

"Kaoru!!!" he called automatically reaching for his twin brother, "Let's go take Haruhi around!"

No answer. Hikaru frowned. Then he saw a piece of paper on the near table. On it were the words:

Hikaru,

Mum called. She wants us to pick up some black silk for her. I've already headed to the markets to pick them up. I'm sure you can escort Haruhi around the jewels markets without me.

Good Luck,

Kaoru

"Black silk?" Hikaru was fuming. "How come mum didn't tell me too?"

"Hikaru, are we going?" It was Haruhi.

"Ah," Hikaru laughed nervously. "Yeah, Kaoru won't be coming. He's gone to pick something up for mum."

"Oh," Haruhi frowned, "Shall we go some other time then?"

"Oh no," Hikaru said hastily, "I can take you. Kaoru said to go without him."

Haruhi stared at Hikaru, who was looking very nervous and flustered. "You can't go a second without Kaoru, right?" she said, misinterpreting his wild presentation of himself.

Hikaru didn't answer. "Well, shall we go then?"

"Ok."

Kaoru was watching from behind the wall. (You see he hadn't left at all) "I'm glad you took one step forward, Hikaru."
A/N: Thanks for some awesome support out there! Hope you liked the chapter. Any more thoughts/suggestions…don't be afraid to let me know. The voting system is thriving and still on. Thanks,

Lu.e3