Virgin Heartache

A/N- this story is being kept up to date with the current chapters, so expect some spoilage.

Disclaimer: Once more from the Top… I own Nothing!

(Special Quote- 'There is no god higher than truth'- Mahatma Gandhi)

Chapter 2- what would you do?

Mori lay quietly on his bed, staring with unfocused eyes at the wall with the sliding door entrance. Adorned on the shelves embedded in the wall to the left of the door was an assortment of books, a few photos, a clock, and for some reason a large chicken plushy. Against the next wall connected to the shelves was a desk that had on it a laptop, a lamp and a carefully wrapped box. Inside the box was a brand new limited edition gundam model, waiting to be assembled. After learning that his pet chicken Piyo and the stray Tanuki Pome had obliterated Mori's first model (much to his dismay), his brother Satoshi had gone out and purchased a new one for him. He might have already been working on it now if his cousin hadn't fallen sick… and if he hadn't gone to the church today… and if Haruhi hadn't…

Mori closed his eyes, attempting to will away the unbidden memories of his morning at the church that infiltrated his mind nonetheless. His mind, though trained from an early age to block out nearly all forms of distraction, was powerless to stop the onslaught of images that came surging at him like a dismal tidal wave, ruthlessly dragging him back into a sea of despair, forcing him to remember what he wished he never knew, denying him even the smallest shred of peace.

"And one year ago today… I gave birth to a girl… and gave her away."

Everything in Mori's mind came to a halt. All proper order and reasoning was crushed as those words tumbled out her mouth, left bare to the world. Words that put a crack in the foundation of beliefs and understandings he had of this world. Haruhi had been raped… and she'd had a child because of it? The whole concept was just insane! Was the girl speaking on the other side of the confessional really Haruhi? As much as he wanted to deny it with every fiber of his being, he knew it was her. In his mind, the delicate image he had constructed of the girl- a pristine representative to everything he knew about her- was shattered, blown away in a chaotic swirl of dust.

"I gave her away… to a relative of my father's… a cousin and her husband who was supposed to take care of her temporarily… but it's already been a year."

Mori could hear Haruhi began to breathe a little harder on the other side of the confessional. These words and the feelings that came with them had to be reopening old wounds- unbearable, unspeakable wounds that had been brutally carved into her body.

"A year- and I- I--- I'm getting ahead of myself. Yeah…I won't feel right unless I say all of it- back from when this problem started." Mori cringed hearing her say that. He didn't want to hear anymore. He didn't deserve to. But try as he might he couldn't tear himself away from the spot- it was as if he were rooted there by frozen manacles. It felt as if something, a frosty presence, was keeping him trapped inside the box. He heard Haruhi draw in a shuddering breath and exhale. Then she continued with her awful tale.

"That boy- he left after he was finished with me and sometime after another one of my friends- another boy named Arai- happened to come in and found me like that. He tried to help me but when he touched me, I panicked and lashed out at him. I screamed at him not to touch me, to never ever touch me. I was so cruel to him, but I couldn't help it. I wouldn't let him anywhere near me so he told me he was going to call for help- and for my father. When he said that, I panicked and begged him not to. I didn't want my father to learn I had been- taken- against my will. He suggested calling another one my friends, Kazumi, to come help instead. I let him, she came, and together they managed to get me home."

"Walking home made me want to die- it felt like all those people we walked past could see what had happened- like they knew just how damaged I had become. And every man we passed- it was as if they were all leering at me. Even Arai, who walked ahead of us and did his best to keep other people at a distance, seemed to look at me with different eyes every time he looked back to check on us. After a trek that took almost an hour we finally made it to my house, and after locking the doors we sat down at the table and waited for my father to get back from work."

Mori heard her breath hitch, and he could imagine the tears starting to fall down her face if they hadn't already.

"My- my father came home late that night- he was surprised to find us all there, just sitting quietly at the table. He asked me what was wrong but I couldn't even look at him. The shame of what happened to me- that I'd allowed my weakness to take hold of me- that I didn't even try to fight back- he was still watching me, waiting for an answer that I didn't have the strength to tell him. That's when Arai stood up and told him that he thought I'd been molested. And in that moment, with the truth out in the open, everything fell to pieces. I can't remember much after those words were said but father- was furious. Seeing him like that, I couldn't take it anymore. I ended up passing out."

"When I came to, I was in the hospital, and my father was sitting in a chair right next to me. The first thing I saw was the pure hate fixed on his face. I truly thought he was angry with me. The look on his face changed though when he realized I was awake. But then he moved in to hug me- when his hands touched me- all the memories came flooding back to me and I screamed. A doctor rushed in and she managed to calm me down- but I wouldn't let my father get anywhere near me. My own father!" Mori bit his lip to keep quiet as she fell into a small fit of sniffles. A few moments passed before she found the strength to go on.

"When they-sniff- asked me-sniff- what I remembered- I told them I didn't want to talk about it. I was being irrational. I knew my memories were real- but I still wanted to deny that it happened to me - that someone I trusted could betray me in such a way. I tried to convince myself that I shouldn't be there, that it was all a big misunderstanding… I- I actually tried to believe that I wasn't raped. But the doctor and my father- they told me I didn't need to say anymore- because they already knew who did it."

"I found out then that I had actually been out for almost three weeks since I was raped. They told me that while I was unconscious I'd talked in my sleep- that I'd spoken his name, begging him to stop- and with that the police managed to track that bastard down, question him until he confessed and convict him for what he did to me. It was also when I found out that I was pregnant. Pregnant at fourteen. When the doctor went to my father with this revelation, he was already strained beyond his limits because of this nightmare. He was shocked speechless when she told him I was expecting.

She asked him several times if he wanted an abortion, but he refused to answer her. Since my father couldn't make a choice she ended up asking me if I wanted an abortion. Can you imagine- having that sort of decision forced on you. The doctor tried to convince me that an abortion would be the best option because I was too young to have a child, that with all the higher health risks I stood a greater chance of dying or my body being damaged for life."

Mori felt the hair on his neck rise as she let out a dry, humorless chuckle. It was an unnatural sound that he wished she'd never made.

"When she told me that I couldn't stop from telling her I was already damaged. After her a few other doctors came in, and they explained all the medical complications that I would have to go through if I went through with the pregnancy… but not a single one among them could tell me if killing the child was right. In the end I chose not to have an abortion because the sheer thought of ending the new life growing inside of me- it horrified me to think of doing such a thing."

"While I was recuperating in the hospital, my father went through numerous efforts to keep anyone from finding out what had really happened, covering it up by telling people I'd come done with a rare illness. He didn't want my life being any more difficult than what it had become. With all my fathers' hard work, we managed to keep the incident from going public. After I was released, I took time away from actually going to school, having Arai and Kazumi bring me my homework, while also undergoing therapy. It was hard but eventually I got better at having people- men- be around me. In time, I could hug my father again, sit next to Arai when we worked on school assignments together, and even bump into people on the street before I started to show. I had gotten over it- for the most part. The only thing I had left to deal with was my own pregnancy."

"It's complicated to understand what I was thinking. Even though the circumstances weren't what they should have been, I often imagined what it might be like to be a mother. I wondered if I might be as good a parent as I remembered my own mother being. After nine long months the baby was finally born. It was supposed to be a tender moment- but-"Haruhi drew in a shaky breath." -when they tried to hand her to me- to give me my child- I panicked and I told them-"she gasped loudly."-I told them to get that thing away from me. I don't know why but when I saw her I was overwhelmed by emotions I still can't identify- fear, hatred, and disgust- they were all swirled together and yet these words don't even come close to what I was feeling. All I knew was I wanted nothing to do with the child. The boy's parents had been aware of my pregnancy from the start and told my father they didn't want the child either. In the end, my father called his cousin and they made the arrangement to take care of her until I got better- until I could handle having her around me. But when they drove away with the child - I never felt more relieved in my life. It was like some wretched weight had been taken off my shoulders along with the baby- and I thought it would be better if the baby never came back. I went back to school, hung out with my friends, and with my grades at peak condition I managed to get accepted into a prestigious high school on scholarship. My life returned to normal."

"I won't lie to you- sometimes it gets a little hard for me to deal- I mean, for the first couple weeks of high school I actually dressed like a boy!- although that hasn't changed… and it's hard sometimes being around my new friends- none of them are aware of what happened to me- I hope they never know. It scares me to think how they would react if they knew. But despite everything, somehow I've managed. And- since the day she was born- I have never seen the child. I've barely even thought of her- until recently."

Mori could only look down at his feet, his fists to his forehead, as he absorbed her words one by one. All the feeling felt like it had been drained out of him, leaving behind a cold emptiness to rival the temperature of the box. What was it again that he had been so concerned about earlier this morning? It seemed so silly now. They had the best doctors that most money couldn't buy at their disposal, and yet he had felt as if Hunny might never recover from a simple cold. Whereas Haruhi, small and fragile as she was, had gone through an ordeal that had scarred her, destroying her trust in others and leaving her incapable of ever being completely, truly whole again. The thought that she had been suffering this entire time, unnoticed by those who claimed to be closest to her, made him feel like a selfish ass. How was it that he could have been so blind? He listened intently as her voice once more filled the silent space between them.

"It's been an entire year since I gave birth to that little baby girl- and in the past few days I've been obsessed thinking about her. Its' gotten so bad that I've started to completely ignore the others around me as I get absorbed in my own memories. With all the randomness that goes on in my life as is on top of remembering things that just pop up out of nowhere, I feel like I'm about to go crazy. Just the other day, I freaked out when one of my friends came up from behind and hugged me. I was so terrified that I screamed and ran away. After acting like that, I don't know what my friends must think of me now- they haven't even tried to call me or anything. I don't know what they'll say, but I intend to try and apologize for all my recent behavior when I go to school tomorrow. Hopefully all goes well. But Father- what I want to know now is-"Haruhi let out a sob but forced herself to continue in a shaky, broken voice. "E-even though I've n-never wanted her… and I'm r-relieved that she's with s-someone else… is it… is it all right for me to celebrate… her birthday?"

Mori's eyes snapped wide open. 'I don't know how to answer that! What should I say! Think! Think!' The chilly air within the confessional suddenly seemed to press in on him, suffocating him, and a voice that he swore was not his own, a voice as crisp as winter morning, demanded him to answer.

"F-father- please!" Haruhi sobbed. "What should I do?!"

Mori couldn't take it anymore. He snapped his eyes shut, inhaled abruptly and shouted "You have the support of God!"

There was silence- an antagonizing long silence - as Mori waited for Haruhi to respond. Finally in the resounding silence he heard-

"Thank you. Thank you Father."

Mori just sat there in the confessional as Haruhi exited it. Even when he heard the echo of the front door being opened and closed, he didn't get up. He just sat there in the tiny box, shuddering. The icy presence had disappeared, taking the cold with it and allowing warmth to return, but he still kept shuddering. He felt something move down his cheeks, and when he reached up to touch them, he felt moisture. He realized he was crying- crying for a girl who had cruelly lost that which could never be given back.

The tears were falling freely down his face when the confessional door opened and he looked up to see another priest with the same cropped haircut as the other man standing there. Father Joseph. As he looked down at him Mori saw sadness reflected in his dark eyes, and it hit him instantly that father Joseph must have heard it, or at least some of it- Haruhi's confession- and his response. While he tried to come up with something to say, anything at all to explain himself, the older man knelt down unexpectedly and embraced him.

Strength failed him as all the feelings he'd been holding back washed over him, drowning him in a flood of emotion. Mori felt something inside give and the next thing he knew, he was returning the hug, clinging desperately to the support the father gave to keep from completely falling apart.

"Did I do the right thing?" Mori asked hoarsely. He did, didn't he? Or should he have done something else? Should he have said more? He needed to know.

After a moments silence, he heard father Joseph speak softly into his ear.

"You did the only thing you could."

The words were meant to be a comforting reassurance yet after they were spoken Mori felt a sharp pain course violently through his body, a feeling comparable to barbed wire being wrapped around the inside of his chest. With the utmost sincerity, he disagreed with the father.

Mori came back to the present when he heard footsteps outside his door. He didn't move as the door slid open and his younger brother walked in wearing a blue nurses' outfit with gloves on his hands and a mask over his mouth- one of his mother's precautions when they visited the sick. Stepping into the room, it seemed as if his brothers' mere presence somehow brightened up the whole space, banishing away the cloud of depression that had previously consumed it.

"Ni-san!" Satoshi cried through the mask, striding briskly up to his bed. "Is it true that you've fallen ill too?! I heard from mother that you came back from fathers business with the church looking quite lifeless, and she's worried you've come down with something as well. But fear not, for I've brought you medicine to cure this wretched illness. Here, see!" Satoshi held up an amber bottle filled with a darker liquid.

"One sip of this, a good night's rest and you'll be back to your old self by morning. Here, take some now." Satoshi shoved the bottle into his hands and then stared at him expectantly. Mori held it up to his eyes and watched the liquid shift around slowly as he tipped the bottle from side to side. Then without any warning he tossed it back at his brother. Satoshi's eyes widened and he scrambled back to catch the bottle before it fell to the ground.

"Ni-san, why did you do that for?" Satoshi cried plaintively. "You need this to get better or-"

"Not Sick." Mori interjected loudly, cutting off his brother.

"You're not sick? Well that's a relief, and mother will be happy to hear as well. But if you're not sick-" Satoshi moved and sat down at the end of the bed, removing his mask at the same time, "-then what's wrong? You're not acting your usual self, and it's got the rest of us a little worried."

"Just- want to be alone", Mori murmured turning his eyes up to the ceiling.

Satoshi wasn't satisfied with the answer, so he pushed the matter further. "It's not about Hunny, is it? If it is you should know that he took this stuff this morning and he's already feeling a lot better. Doesn't work on dad to well though for some reason-I wonder why-?"

"No. It's not Hunny." Mori replied curtly, wishing Satoshi would take a hint. Satoshi, it seemed however, wasn't in a perceptive mood right then.

"Huh? Well if it's not, then what's bothering you...…?" Satoshi let out a startled gasp. "Could it be you ran into the ghost?! You know, the one that committed suicide when her lover-"

"Satoshi!" Mori snapped, raising his voice in irritation. Satoshi stopped talking, staring at his brother with wide eyes. Mori thought about yelling at him to just get the hell out- though to have the brother he idolized say that to him would probably shock the boy so much that he would probably be frozen stiff to the spot. Instead, after a moments' deliberation, he found himself asking instead, "what would you do, if you were put in a situation where there was absolutely nothing you could do?"

"What? What would I do if I couldn't do anything?" Satoshi's eyes scrunched up in concentration as he thought this over. After a few seconds he opened his eyes and answered "then I would do nothing."

Mori stared at his brother, for once truly speechless. Satoshi took this as a sign to elaborate his answer.

"I mean, if you can't do anything, then what's the point of trying to think about it. You'll only make yourself sick worrying about it and in the end still won't be able to do a thing. It would actually be worse if you tried to do something, knowing you couldn't, and somehow ended up complicating things for those who might be able to do something. Am I right, Ni-san?"

Mori gazed at his brother for a moment more before his lips turned up into a small smile. "Thank you." Satoshi was beaming as Mori turned over on his side, a clear dismissal.

"You welcome Ni-san." Satoshi finally taking the hint, left at once, running down the hall as soon as the door shut behind him.

As he listened to his brother's footsteps fade away, the smile slipped away from his face as he stared at his bedroom walls again. 'It could be worse if you tried to do something you couldn't, Satoshi- but if you never tried to do anything, would you ever forgive yourself for doing nothing- especially if one of the people you care about was involved? Could you do nothing, not even think about it, if that were the case? No matter how insignificant it might be, there has to be something someone can do. Worrying yourself sick just might be the first step one needs to take before they can find out what it is that only they can do.'

And so Mori lied there, struggling to discover his one true purpose. For the rest of the night he mulled over that one question- what should he do?

"Takashi!" squealed a childish voice. Mori turned when he heard his name and saw his cousin, in perfect energetic health, come bounding through the school's front gate. He reflexively stuck his arms out, catching the small blond as he leaped at him. Hunny gave out a small giggle as he was placed on Mori's shoulders to ride piggyback. All the girls in the immediate vicinity who had witnessed the scene shrieked out uncontrollably at the sheer cuteness of what they had seen; one girl even went so far as to fall to the ground in a dramatic fashion, unable to bear the 'purity of the moment' as she called it.

Mori tried to ignore it all as he walked up to the front entrance. Really, the girls were just too easily pleased, which was actually a little annoying when all they did was shriek out their joy, quite loudly in fact. Oh well, at least their shrieking would keep him from collapsing to the ground into a deep slumber. He had stayed up most of the night, and he still didn't have the answer he was looking for.

"Takashi- we're going to the club now before school starts, ne?" The small boy claimed from his perch.

"Uhn." Mori agreed, trying not to yawn. He swerved left and right to avoid the people standing idly in the hall talking excitably amongst one another. Something important must have happened.

Hunny bent down to whisper in Mori's ear. "Then does this mean we're going to find out what was wrong with Haru-chan the other day?"

Mori stopped in the hall, next to an open classroom. He felt the memories claw up to the surface of his mind again but he managed to press them back to remain attached to the present. Doing that, he gave Hunny his answer. "Haruhi has reasons, just like anyone else, for the way she acted. It's best if she isn't pressured into saying anything she won't be comfortable talking about. If Haruhi wants to tell us anything, we'll listen, but if she says nothing, just let her be."

Hunny looked down at his younger cousin's black crown while he contemplated his words. What he said made sense but something about the way Takashi had said it seemed off, though he couldn't put his finger on it. Maybe Takashi was tired or something. Hunny made a mental note to ask him about it later after the meeting.

"Yeah," he said. "Your right, we shouldn't ask her but let her tell us when she's ready. Let's go let the others know before Haru-chan comes. And cake. We need cake cause' bun-bun has been wanting some since yesterday morning."

Mori felt the corners of his mouth tug up into a small smile at his cousin's antics and started to walk forward again. He hadn't gone half a step when he had to halt abruptly as a small girl rushed directly in front of him into the open classroom.

"Hurry, come quickly!" she shouted breathlessly to the students inside the room. "The confrontation is happening! Rido-san just found Haruhi-kun near the third music room and it looks like they're ready to come to blows!"

Mori stood there for a split second before bolting for the third music room. His legs carried him as fast as they could down the hallway and up two flights of stairs to the third floor. When he got there, he came to a halt as he looked down the hall to see a crowd of blue and yellow formed halfway down it, right in front of the doors of the third music room.

"Hurry Takashi!" Hunny cried. "I think I see Haru-chan and she's on the ground!"

Hearing this, Mori ran for the crowd and then proceeded to push his way through it, forcing his way to the center. As he got closer, over the murmurs and shrieks of the crowd, he could hear someone shouting.

"-of trash! Get up and face me like a man, or are you only capable of looking pretty and stealing other guys girlfriends! I Said Get Up!"

Mori broke through the crowd in time to see a guy with slicked back brown hair deliver a brutal kick to Haruhi's stomach as she lay there on the ground. When he saw this, something inside him snapped and an unfathomable rage consumed him. He felt Hunny leap off his back as he charged forward, cocking his fist back before slamming it into the face of the brown haired attacker as he turned to see who was coming.

The boy was sent soaring several feet off the ground and into the crowd of people on the other side. There were collective gasps and small screams all around and everyone stared at Mori in shock. Eyes dark with fury, the gentle giant had transformed into an enraged Juggernaut.

Mori quickly turned away from the crowd to Haruhi. She was still lying on the ground, holding her stomach, trembling uncontrollably. When Mori reached down to help her, she flinched away from his touch.

"Haruhi", Mori spoke in as calm and soothing a voice he could muster for the girl. "It's alright. You're safe now."

Haruhi peeked up at him from the floor in fear. "Mori-sempai?" she whispered, looking at him as if she wasn't sure he was actually there to help.

"What the Hell!" someone screeched behind Mori. He turned to see the brown haired boy he just hit, the guy the girl in the classroom had called Rido, standing there with his face covered in blood that was gushing from his nose. His uniform was already stained in his own vital fluids. "Who the fucking hell do you think you are getting involved?! This is between me and that wimpy piece of shit!" he shouted, jabbing a finger at Haruhi who ducked her head down and started shaking again.

"Why did you attack Haruhi!?" Mori shouted back, glaring fiercely at the boy for scaring Haruhi again.

Rido was taken aback for moment, surprised at hearing the guy he now recognized as the Morinozuka heir actually raise his voice from its accredited monotone. He wasn't the only one either. His face darkened however as he finally registered what Mori had said.

"Why!?" he spat. "I'll tell you why! It's because of that little man whore there that my girlfriend and I are on the verge of breaking up! Ever since he snubbed her at your last 'Club Session'"-, he sneered. "-he's all she's been talking about. When I told her stop talking about another man because she had me, she got into my face and started demanding what I had to offer! I'm her god damn boyfriend! She started telling me that all we ever did was the same boring stuff that I wanted to do over and over again! She doesn't know shit about what she's saying! How could listening to sweet nothings from a guy who's just faking it all be more important than spending time with me?!"

Mori stood up to face the boy, his eyes covered in a shadow cast from his hair. From the corner of his eye he was surprised to see the rest of the host club had joined the throng all around him. From what he could see it looked like Tamaki and the twins were being restrained by Hunny and Kyoya from jumping in. Even as they struggled with each other, they were all watching him to see what he would do.

In that moment something odd came over him. A feeling more substantial than his desire to stand up for a friend- an unfamiliar need to prove himself coursed powerfully through his veins, provoking him to act. And act he would. In a low voice Mori spoke, not even looking up at the bloodied attacker. "You got in a fight with your girlfriend, and so you're taking it out on Haruhi, is that right?"

"Damn straight it is!" he spat glaring at Mori while he clenched his fists.

"Tch! This is so stupid." The crowd froze as Mori said those words. The host club shared a collective look before, by wordless agreement, they ceased struggling with one another and turned their attention back to Mori. From her position on the floor Haruhi looked up at the back of the older boy towering before her.

"Tell me", Mori said, as he began to walk slowly towards the boy. "Do you know why the Host club exists?"

"To steal away the girlfriends of other guy's!" Rido shouted out. "You weave fantasies with smooth lies to make them fall in love with you, and forget all about their real boyfriends, telling them we're not good enough for them!"

"Wrong!" Mori declared. He was still walking slowly towards the boy who was beginning to edge back a little at his approach. "There's no doubt that the Host club exists primarily as a means of distraction for sophisticated young women with time on their hands. They come there to be entertained, and that's exactly what we do. But there's another purpose for the Host club. They come there to be heard."

"To be heard? What the hell are you talking about?!" There were murmurs of confusion coming from all around the crowd as well.

"I'm telling you that they come to be heard. Out in the real world, beyond the walls of this school, Host clubs exist for the sole purpose of listening to the words of women- of housewives, teachers, and politicians alike- who long to be heard. Women who want to relieve themselves of their troubles by telling them to men who will listen to them when their husbands, boyfriends, students and everyone else fail to do so- They long to feel as if their words have more value than what they think they do based upon the actions of others."

Mori hadn't stopped walking towards the boy, who had backed himself up through the parted crowd into the opposing wall. He still had an angrily hostile face, but reflected in his eyes was a hint of nervous fear.

"This club- our club- serves exactly the same purpose. Your girlfriend came to our club, most likely under the assumption that she would have a good time. It was unfortunate that she chose Haruhi at a time when he wasn't feeling himself. For that I'll apologize in his stead. But that isn't the real issue here, is it? The real issue appears to be your relationship between you and your girlfriend."

"What did you say?!" Rido hissed leaning forward, the fear momentarily leaving eyes as new anger surged forth again.

"Do I really have to spell it out to you?" Mori asked as he stopped a couple feet away in front of him, his head still down. The crowd had now reformed itself around the two into a broken semi circle, allowing only enough space for Haruhi, as well as Tamaki and the twins who had rushed to her aide as soon as Mori and Rido had gotten far enough away, to see what was going on and being said. Hunny and Kyoya had moved within the inner circle of the crowd.

"She wanted to know what you had to offer- she told you that all you ever did together was the same old boring stuff- She clearly wanted more from her relationship, but apparently her words didn't mean shit to you- you questioned why she might feel happier attending a host club than being with you. Is it obvious to you now, why she feels the way she does? She wanted to be heard, to have her opinions be acknowledged, but you-"Mori brought his head up and stared straight into Rido's eyes with the coldest glare he had. "-haven't bothered to listen."

The boy paled, gaping at him in frightened shock. He felt as if he was staring into the eyes of a beast. Mori suddenly turned around, breaking eye contact and causing the crowd to gasp by making such a bold move as putting his back to the boy. He took a couple steps forward before stopping again. He turned his head until Rido could see his face, but Mori didn't make eye contact again this time.

"Instead of picking a senseless fight, don't you think now would be a good time to go and do just that?"

There was complete silence all around. It was so silent, no one seemed to move or breathe. And then, from somewhere in the crowd, someone began to clap. Soon another joined the first and then another until the whole hallway was clapping or cheering. Tamaki himself was practically crying out tears in delight, ecstatic beyond normal comparison, clapping loudly with everyone else while the other members held grins on their faces. For everyone present it was the first time they had heard Mori speak so many words at once, and never could they have imagined that they would hear such an inspiring speech when he did. His once rare words had shown greater strength than anyone could have believed possible coming from the stoic senior.

Rido had been forgotten while everyone clapped, left there to just gape after the tall senior who was walking away back to his friends. Just walking away- after having completely humiliated him. Rido felt his entire being flood with rage and he let out a scream as he charged at Mori. Many people stopped cheering to gasp and some called out warning to the senior. He was almost upon him when Mori suddenly twisted around, slamming his left foot into the boys face and sending him flying again.

The spectators scrambled out of the way this time so they wouldn't get hit again, and Rido landed on the ground hard, tumbling a few feet more. He could only gasp and groan pathetically on the floor as pain wracked his entire body. Mori walked towards him again, shaking his head.

"You just can't leave it alone, can you? Fine, be that way. Come at me as many times as you want, I'll hit you back again and again until you finally gain some sense. But understand this-", Mori kneeled down next to the young man and was looking him straight in the eyes again with a frosty glare. "- if you, or anyone else ever tries to hurt Haruhi again, I'll destroy them-Mind, Body and Soul!" He roared.

As Rido fell into a dead faint Mori stood up and walked back, past the parted crowd staring at him in awe, to Haruhi who was now sitting on hands and knees, her head cast down. When he was right in front of her, he knelt down so he could be at eye level with her. He reached his hand out slowly, bringing it underneath her chin, relieved when she didn't flinch away at the contact, and tilted her face up. There were a few tears in her eyes and Mori carefully wiped them away with his thumb before looking her straight in the eyes.

"Haruhi?" he said her name gently.

Haruhi heard the unspoken question and concern in his tone. She sniffed, blinking away more tears that threatened to spring up, and smiled up at him. "Yes Mori-sempai, I'm alright now- thanks to you." Mori smiled back, and the crowd started cheering all over again.

A/n- Finally it's done! (Collapses from exhaustion after editing it so many times) this chapter was really hard for me because of all the dialogue. So, what did you all think of my talkative Mori, eh? I realize I'm getting flaming crap-balls tossed in my general direction for that and for not making Tamaki center attention, but I regret nothing. Mori may have been very OOC this chapter, but you also have to consider that the situations at hand were not normal for OHSHC. It wouldn't have really worked if Mori had been his same old self. I'll try next chapter to bring him back more into character, give his voice box a rest. (laughs) Thanks to all my reviewers for their wonderful comments. (Proceeds to smash glass bottle and brandish end at would be attackers.)