Disclaimer: I am not Japanese, nor do I own the rights to these two universes.
Thanks for the reviews, follows, and favorites! You're what drives me to continue! -Lem

Responding

"Until Miss Fujioka wakes, I want no one to hear what is about to be said."

Haruhi was released from the infirmary Friday morning.

Her father was contacted Wednesday night when the attack occurred, but hadn't heard the message until Thursday morning. He arrived at the academy promptly. It was the first time he met the boys from the Host Club, and Ranka hoped that he managed to strike fear into every one of their souls.

"If in the future my daughter even loses one hair from her head you all will have to answer to me!" he threatened the six boys.

"Excuse me Mr. Fujioka, but may you not make threats to my son and his friends?" suggested the chairman as he entered the hall.

Mr. Fujioka gave the boys one more look and then turned to the chairman. "As you are well aware," his voice grew softer, "Haruhi's the only thing I have left. I see it only fit that I set the boundaries up now with her team mates."

"I understand, but this is a school and threats will be taken seriously. Now then, I am sure you have many questions. I can better answer them in my office, as long as you do not mind the change of location."

Ranka sent one more glare to the boys as he accepted Mr. Suoh's proposal.

"Kyoya, do you know of Miss Fujioka's mother, Kotoko?"

"Yuzuru, what happened? The call made it sound as if she was attacked."

"She was... by one of her fellow students. Have you seen her yet?"

"Shortly. I was distracted by those boys."

"When we brought her in yesterday she appeared far worse for wear than she does now."

"That's reassuring, but could you elaborate on how my daughter was allowed to get harmed on school grounds by another student?"

"I... we're still currently investigating that."

There was a brief pause, and then Ranka asked the question the chairman had asked himself as well.

"This couldn't have anything to do with her mother... right?"

"As I said, we're still investigating."

"I thought that when you said you could better answer my questions, you actually had answers."

The chairman was silent.

"She was a graduate of this academy, a meister, top of her class. Her weapon partner was-"

"I thought as much."

When Haruhi woke up at noon on Thursday, her father was right by her side.

He immediately called for the nurse, who rushed in. The nurse checked her vitals and asked her to recall the fight.

Ranka noticed, as only a parent could, when Haruhi, in the middle of her recounting, switched from telling the truth to fibbing. He frowned at her, but didn't approach the subject while the nurse was there, nor when she left to get Chairman Suoh.

Ranka trusted his daughter and her judgement. Whatever she was hiding, he hoped wouldn't come back to haunt her.

"Is there something I'm not aware of?"

"Indeed."

The office door shut soundly behind him.

His mind was in chaos.

Things he previously knew as fact were actually lies. How many more false truths were out there? How much did the others know? What did his father know?

As Kyoya walked away from the chairman's door, his fingers trembled ever so slightly.

His very familiar world had just become a bit more foreign.

Friday Afternoon

The doors to the Third Music Room opened to reveal the regular set-up, except for a banner that hung from the center of the room reading, Welcome Back Haruhi!

The person in question had protested when the others informed her of the sign's hanging, but a swift comment from Kyoya had stopped Haruhi's protests. She'd skipped school today, solely because her father wanted her to relax at home, but had returned in the afternoon for club.

Presently, Haruhi was stationed at her, well his, regular table accompanied by six ladies.

"My father wanted me home today, so I was only in the infirmary for one day." Haruhi reassured them all.

"We still missed you, though!" stated one of Haruhi's regulars.

"When we heard why club was cancelled yesterday, we were utterly distraught." added another girl.

"We're so glad you're back," said a girl Haruhi had learned was named Kurakano. "Kyoya told us how ill you were."

The cover story was that he'd fallen ill early thursday morning. Since he was already on academy grounds when the cold struck him, he had to stay in the school's infirmary all day. Unfortunately, Haruhi was outside when he lost consciousness and wound up fainting in a rose bush, thus all of his scratches and bruises.

No one batted an eye at the fib the whole club was spewing, and no one questioned the bandage still around Haruhi's head and the black eye still boldly painted on his face.

No one outside of the Host Club except Nekozawa, Haruhi's father, and Mr. Suoh knew the real reason why Haruhi was in the nurse's room for a whole day... and they were going to keep it that way.

The meister swiftly lifted up the crossdresser. The layout of the maze was imprinted in his mind, which he was very thankful for at this moment.

Nekozawa rushed to the nearest exit. He needed to get Haruhi to the infirmary first. Next find Kyoya.

That second task was easier to accomplish than he'd thought. As he entered the academy, dripping wet and carrying Haruhi in his arms, Tamaki strolled out of the nearest men's room.

And froze.

The three glanced at eachother. They weren't sure how they knew, but all of their future missions were going to be done a little bit differently.

"We're positive. This will never happen again." Kaoru assured.

Tamaki was a mix between disbelief and anger. Hunny was obviously uncertain, but hopeful nonetheless. Mori... was Mori and still very unreadable.

Kyoya shifted his glasses. "It better not, because if it does I will have no choice but to inform the chairman of your actions. Until then, I want no one to speak of this."

Until then...

Haruhi glared from her hospital bed. Yes, she hated the twins, but she had forgiven them. She had witnessed the shift between their self-absorbed selves to their frightened and alone selves. They had allowed her to hold them in their pistol forms. She could feel that the relationship between the three of them had changed, had become something she couldn't name.

And for Kyoya to imply that the twins would abandon her again in the future? No, she was not going to allow it to pass; not after how far they'd come in such a short time.

The twins were instantly ashamed at Kyoya's comment. Before the Ohtori could continue though, Haruhi spoke.

"Kyoya, I am telling you this here and now. Hikaru and Kaoru will never desert me again, nor will I fail them. We're a team. Teams stick together and help eachother."

Kyoya stared at the commoner in the bed. "As I repeat, I want no one outside of this room to hear about your issues. Do I make myself clear?" Tamaki shifted uncomfortably at his weapon partner's authoritative tone.

Haruhi never blinked as she replied. "Crystal."

AN. I wrote about 97% of this at night. I hope this wasn't as bad as I think it is. I know where I want this story to go, but these transition chapters are tough to write. -Lem
UPDATED 8/20/2013